St Valentine's Storm: The Crown of Love!
by The Shard of Flame Ice
Summary: Lelouch Vi Britannia, 99th Emperor of Britannia, is required to assist the St. Valentine's Festival in any way he can. When he gets as close as he can get to making a deal with the devil herself, watch it backfire spectacularly on him! Oh, poor Lulu!
1. Deal with the Devil

**A.N.: It's me again, The Shard of Flame Ice! I lost my will to continue Emerald Caress due to lack of inspiration, though watching some really good Code Geass Wallpapers I found on a site somehow gave me inspiration to write something for St. Valentine's. This will be multichaptered, just to let you know. I'll post this right now, and while you're reading this, know that I'm killing my brain cells by squeezing my brain for material! Btw, I'll finish 2nd chapter of Emerald Caress somewhere before the 21st. **

**I took a different approach here than in Emerald Caress. There, I tried to take a more subjective take of the characters and perspective. Don't expect the flowery vocabulary I used in Emerald Caress, but don't expect a piece of trash either! I also tried my hand at taking deeper looks into the minds of characters, and at describing things. Hopefully my attempts were not botched ones. Btw, I also took a more humorous take on the character's this time (seen better towards the end). This will be a weird mix of Humor and Romance, so expect some screw ups every now and then. And since the dates on CG are never truly given (or so I believe), I've take liberties with the timelines. Expect light to extreme OOCness and random crazy shit from time to time!**

**EDIT: It has been pointed out that the whole story appeared in bold typing when it was posted. How the hell did that happen? I didn't even notice! Anyhow, the un-bold version will replace this version. Sorry for inconveniences!**

**DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN CODE GEASS. That series and its characters belong to their corresponding creators and not to me. I'm just borrowing for this story! The story is the only thing I own, and is done solely for entertainment!**

Lelouch Lamperou—No, Lelouch Vi Britannia, he corrected himself, sighed. He was not 100% sure as to how to go about this. Not long after crowning himself Emperor, he had retreated into his new, royal lodgings; his newly titled Knight of Zero following behind him like any loyal knight would to their liege. His "accomplice", the green-haired witch had joined not ten minutes past the start of their small travel. They were all currently gazing around the Emperor's quarters—his quarters, he came to acknowledge.

Despite himself, Suzaku let out a whistle of amazement as the entourage entered the bedroom, and rightfully so.

If there was only one word required to describe it, it was simply "majestic". Massive in size, every single aspect of the room itself was of the utmost quality. A bright red carpet, lined with royal purple and gold, was stretched from the room's entrance all the way to the opposite end of the room, where a king-sized bed lay. Covers a red color, where folded neatly near the bunk head, revealing pristine white sheets below. Just from a glace, Lelouch could tell that they were made of the finest and softest silk available in the world—he bet that just by resting on them, they alone could lull him to a peaceful sleep. Resting against the head of the bunk, was a set of soft, plush pillows of considerable size, white in color, lined with green, red and gold. Completing the ensemble were four posts at each of the bed's corners, holding a veil of sorts, which would selfishly protect its owner from the rest of the world. Next to the bed, was a rather simple nightstand, remarkable only because of how polished was the wood. A phone, a small phone book and other trivialities where placed on it.

Off to the side of the bed, lay a set of doors, where the Emperor's clothes would be hanged. It was accompanied by a step-in dresser for his more casual clothes, and a medium-sized stand made of hard and delicately sculpted marble, for whenever he would need aid for more regal and complicated clothing. The 99th Emperor made a note to order his subjects to throw away his father's old clothing. He had no illusions of ever matching his parent in bulk. Someone else with poorer luck in the world would have better use for them.

On the other wall across the dresser, where a series of bookshelves filled with rows upon rows of books. Lelouch lamented the fact that he would never get to read even a tenth of them before his reign ended. Each bookshelf was made out of redwood, flawlessly cut out of the material as if made by the hands of a collective of master sculptors. He would later find he was not that far off the mark. A folding ladder was resting against the wall for any book too high for the aspiring reader. This miniature library easily encompassed a third of the room.

Beside the dresser, were big windows, which could open to allow access to the beautiful sight of the great expanse of the Empire—his Empire. Directly below him and around the palace, were the lush palace grounds, sectioned by tall bushes, filled with incredibly varied plant life, all of it carefully and expertly taken care of by wise and dedicated gardeners.

Hung on the walls were various paintings telling past stories of pivotal or otherwise historic moments of Britannia's long history. Lelouch paid them little mind since firstly they were replicas of the originals, which were hidden in secret vaults (which he would be privy to know the locations of, with his nearly limitless influence as Emperor of Britannia.) Secondly, because he could care less about history he already knew and was forced to sit through many times back when he attended Ashford Academy.

High on the ceiling, hung below the huge crystal "dome" that topped off the room, was an enlarged version of the Britannian flag. He would make sure to replace that with something far more suitable to his tastes. He _had_ to act the part of Emperor, after all. Why not indulge himself while he had the chance?

To finish it off, the last section of the wall, which was preceded by a small set of stairs, led off to a huge set of doors, intricate carvings of angels, demons, warriors and the many, many other such ideas commonly conceived by talented artists throughout time eternal. This conduced to the Emperor's personal studio, which could only be accessed through this door alone, by the Emperor alone (as it possessed the latest in technology to ensure the ruler's safety and privacy, including eye, digital fingerprint and even saliva scan!). The room was also soundproofed, expansive, expensively decorated much like bedroom before it, and closed off by walls made of the strongest materials possible. It was made to be the Emperor's ultimate physical sanctuary, where he could enjoy solace from many of the world's many grievances.

Overall, with such a lavish style of living, why, why indeed was our genius protagonist sighing?

"What's with the long face? That's most certainly _not_ what you would expect from someone who not only thoroughly took the world by storm by declaring himself Emperor, but also named a Number as his personal bodyguard, mentally enslaved well over ten thousand people without the general populace knowing ("_And I'm sure more are coming"_, she though in the middle of her small rant.), and had not even a day prior caused the utter erasing of the existence of his parents. Geez Lelouch, what more could you possibly wish for now? A wife to share your life with?" Uncharacteristically, C.C. joked good-mindedly, rather than to amuse herself by mocking someone else. Unlike Suzaku, she, Charles, Marianne and V.V. had sometimes met in the studio, back when they were all in it for the Ragnarok Connection, thus it came as no surprise for her.

"She's right Lelouch. You're the Emperor now. Don't tell me you want the Numbers to build an effigy of you next?" While Suzaku started on the mindset of a joke, his thoughts unconsciously degenerated into darker natures, such as the slavery of Numbers. Thus he ended out growling the last part without realizing until the words left his mouth. He quickly bowed his head in repentance when he realized that, even if the both of them had finally reconciled after a few hours of talking everything out, his best friend was still the Emperor of Britannia.

Lelouch flicked his finger on Suzaku's forehead, waving his apology off as his Knight raised his head. "Don't worry; I won't do anything of the sort to the Numbers. Believe me, I can relate to them more than to any commonly raised Britannian. I'd never do something like that."

Smirking, Lelouch declared an idea he had kept to himself, "In fact, I was thinking of something more along he lines of abolishing the Area and Number's System entirely."

Now _that_got their attention. Both of his companions' heads snapped back to look at him. A raised eyebrow and just the slightest widening of the eyes from C.C., and quite a comical face of incredulity from Suzaku, complete with the gaping of the mouth. He could almost swear a fly had made a beeline for his mouth right before the Knight of Zero recovered his composure.

"R-Really?! You're not kidding me, are you?" Suzaku asked, stare deathly serious

"I'm not. Britannia has enslaved many people over the years from the many wars it has waged, ruling them with iron fist and discriminating Numbers, people who can no longer fight back, who are unable to help themselves. I'll be doing the world a favor by ridding us of such travesty!" Lelouch's voice had risen as he neared the end of his impromptu speech, ending with a glare that could have melted steel, daring any of them to call him a liar.

Suzaku was visibly relieved, though his tone was still a little stern, "…Thank goodness, Lelouch. You have no idea how pissed off I'd be if you were lying. Just in case, I'll hold you to those words."

This time it was the Gray Witch who spoke up, bringing up an interesting point, "Are you sure that is wise? Much of Britannia's influence stems from its large domain, which encompasses much of the world. The borders were stretched because of the Areas. Do you really want to take that course of action?"

"Yes, I do. Not only because it will put me in a better stance in the eyes of the public, but also because… It's the right thing to do."

"The right thing? You've done your fair share of questionable deeds, some of them being claimed as "right". Are you sure you're not just doing this out of convenience?"

"Yes. We're in what you can call, the "Home Stretch". All that is truly left to do is defeat Schneizel. Then, nothing will stop Zero Requiem from taking place."

"And you're sure you can pull that off, Lelouch?" A concerned Suzaku couldn't help but ask.

"Well, you're with me aren't you guys? You wouldn't be if you didn't think I could. And I do believe I can. Not only for our sake, but for the sake of the peaceful world I promised Nunally…· His tone had decreased to whisper as he ended.

An uncomfortable silence soon fell, but it was short, before it was broken by a small sight from C.C.

"All right, all right. You're the boss. Try not to die while you're at it, will you?"

"I got my Knight of Zero to back me up, right Suzaku?"

"Yes, my lord! You can count on me!" Replied a grinning Suzaku.

Silence fell again, but this time, it was pleasing, for their alliance was reinforced yet again. Lelouch enjoyed the small pause this time, smiling a little, before turning to Suzaku.

"Well, you should go to your quarters Suzaku. Use the quarters of the Knight of One. I'll send word later so some servants go over and help you thrash anything you don't want. I'll also need to get proper attires fitting of the 99th Emperor of the Holy Britannian Empire and the Knight of Zero, so expect someone to go and take your measurements in the following days. Wear your uniform of the Knights of the Round for the time being."

"Yes, my lord." And with an overly conditioned reply, Suzaku bowed to his liege, and left the room.

Turning to C.C., Lelouch found she had already made herself comfortable on his bed. Amusingly, she was already flipping through the phone book, looking for the number to contact the kitchen below, no doubt to order the cooks to make pizza. She seemed to be looking forward to it more than usual, given the slightly excited look on her face. He figured it was because as chefs of His Highness's (himself) Royal Palace, they would have no trouble doing something as mundane as pizza, what with the best ingredients and cooks available to more than 85% of the world.

Pausing in her flipping through the pages, C.C. voiced, "You know, you never told us why you where sighing."

Grimacing, Lelouch decided to ignore her question. C.C. raised her eyes to look at him after a few seconds had passed, then settled for a shrug of her shoulders before resuming her search for the most important number in the book in her hands (in her opinion anyway).

"I'll be outside, in the Royal Gardens if you need me C.C." Lelouch informed as he got up to leave his room.

"Understood. Enjoy running amongst the flowers." She did not even need to look up to know Lelouch was glaring at her.

Lelouch grumbled something that suspiciously sounded like "Blasted Witch…" before leaving for the Garden. Some fresh air would do him good.

However, even as he walked to his destination, servants and guards bowing deeply to him as he walked by, one sentence in particular from his earlier conversations remained in his mind.

"_Geez Lelouch, what else could you possibly wish for now? A wife to share your life with?"_

"_Wife, eh? As Emperor, I will eventually be expected to produce an heir, or pass on my throne to one of my half-__siblings's children. In not more than a week, it will be St. Valentine's Day. Gah! I can't think of that day without thinking back to that stupid Cupid's Day Mill thought up back in Ashford! Ughh… How that woman can come up with so many ridiculous ideas is beyond me..._

_Hmph_… _February the 14__th__… It will be a perfect opportunity for the royal advisers to attempt to hook me up with a "suitable" woman, worthy of the title of Empress. I personally don't care about such things; it's not like my reign will extend long enough so that a proper wedding can be prepared and all that. In fact, I bet my time will be remembered as one of the shortest periods out of all the Britannian Emperors._

_Regardless, I bet those men and women will expect me to come up with some sort of festival or celebration of some kind for the 14__th__. It's usually done for these types of celebrations, although my father, ever the asshole he was, had other people do it for him while he jacked off to the prospective of the Ragnarok Connection, I bet. Damn him._

_Shit, what to do… I'm not good with coming__up with these kinds of things... Wait, did I just--? ...Hahahaha, how ironic. Me, the person behind Zero, the Man of Miracles, genius tactician and Geass manipulator extraordinaire, incapable of coming up with an idea for a measly celebration… Man, how does Milly do it? She's the one that's good at coming up with things like th—!"_

"**THAT'S IT! I'M A GODDAMN GENIUS!**"

…Was the cry that caused the birds to scatter from their nests, the deers to look toward the strange sound, the wolf to stop pursuing its prey and face to the west and cause the many guards and gardeners currently in the Royal Gardens to look strangely in the direction where their Emperor was, which was by the lake.

Lelouch had been sitting in one of the chairs, under the structure constructed just off to the side of the great lake that was beside the Royal Gardens, still well within palace grounds.

He had been thinking about the upcoming St. Valentine's Day, and how it was usually asked of the current Emperor to contribute in some way to the celebration. His father often skipped on thinking on something, so he usually paid agencies that took care for such events, paying them enough to allow them to hold grand-scale carnivals every year. Other than providing the funding and the manpower, late Emperor Charles Zi Britannia had refrained from participating in such acts, and while Lelouch was tempted to follow his example, he decided not to, for one it would make look like an asshole as a recently instituted Emperor, not to mention he did not really want to follow his father's footsteps like that.

So after relaxing for about half an hour and enjoying the silence, his mind had gone off in many directions into many different topics. Eventually growing tired of it, it eventually converged in the upcoming celebration. Faced with the need to proportionate something to make this particular celebration unique, so that it may live on in the memory of many, his thoughts also kept drifting off to the Cupid's Day, that embarrassing concoction that only the certifiably insane heir to the Ashford name, Milly Ashford, could come up with; She was renown for coming up with crazy ideas and throwing constant parties, using the academy as her dominion. However, she invented particularly devious ideas whenever St. Valentine's time came, and unfortunately, he found himself to be one of the central victims of her schemes more times than he liked.

So it was with great elation that Lelouch withdrew his new cell phone from the confines of his clothes, pausing to make a note to Geass someone to copy all of his contacts to his new phone, before proceeding to dial up a number he hasn't called in a good, long while.

_Beep… Beep… Beep… Bee—_"_Hi, this is Milly Ashford speaking! May I ask who's calling?"_

Allowing an evil smirk to grace his lips, Lelouch spoke into the receiver:

"Why Milly, you sound a bit different from the last time we spoke to each other. Are you coming down with a cold by any chance?"

"_L-L-L-Lelouch?!"_ Milly's startled voice came through. What could the Emperor himself possibly want with someone like her?!

Frowning slightly as he realized something, he made another note to get Jeremiah to use his Geass Canceller on Milly and Rivalz the next time he saw them. Geez, he sure was making a lot of those remainders lately, wasn't he?

"Is that any way to greet an old friend? Anyways as to what I wanted…" Allowing his evil smirk to grow even more malicious, Lelouch had to resist the urge to laugh maniacally. He was sorely tempted to do so many times, but had required to keep his composure. And now that he was the Emperor, he had to keep his composure once again. Thus, he continued, as if this minor monologue took less than a couple of seconds… which it did.

"Tell me, have you ever considered the possibility of being given the position of supreme coordinator of the St. Valentine's Day Festival?"

**A.N: Done! This is the first chapter of the first of several fanfics featuring St. Valentine's situations between Lelouch and another character (mostly females; I'm tempted to do one about friendship about Lelouch and Suzaku and have someone misunderstand it.=) I hope you people found this as an ejoyable read as Emerald Caress, because I'm far from done with you lot! Review please! Flames will be used to further my own passionate fire to finish my stories! Hahaha! Happy St. Valentine's Day!**


	2. The Nature of Geass

**AN: Chapter Two! Done! I spent my whole of St. Valentine's on this, so please be grateful! **

**WARNINGS: The fic may push the ratings of T to the limit, nearly reaching M. In fact, I may just change it to M, due to "the joke". Read on and you'll understand. Also, a pathethic attempt at bloody (literally) humor around 2/3 in. Some may find it disturbing, so prepare yourself just incase. Others may find it silly. Expect severe OCCness at times, breaking of the fourth wall and Karmic Intervention (read: Author Punishment) around the middle onwards to the end. Oh, and some minor uses of Japanese.**

**Note: I took the time to write my thougths on the nature of Geass itself as a monologue of sorts. Check the scene breaked by "LOLFORESHADOWING" to see it. Hence why this chapter is titled "The Nature of Geass".**

**NOTE OF EVEN GREATER IMPORTANCE: I HAVE A POLL UP! I dunno if it will come up when you click my profile, so if it doesn't, tell me in a review and I'll make a note of them next chapter... or hell, this same chapter as an edit.**

**NOTE 3: If anyone is annoyed by my scene breaks, tell me and I'll change them for next chapter...**

**DISCLAIMER: I DON'T OWN CODE GEASS OR ANY OF ITS CHARACTERS, THEMES OR LOCATIONS. Only this story, which is pure fiction, is of my property.**

**_"Let'z Shake!"_**

**-- Dr. Letz Shake**

Milly Ashford felt… unsure, she thought, was a fairly fitting word to describe how she currently felt.

On the one hand, ten minutes ago, she had received a call from her former schoolmate and fellow member of the Student Council, Lelouch Lamperouge, now revealed as a Prince, and recently instituted as 99th Emperor of Britannia. That was definitely something that she did **not** expect, nor did any of her fellow schoolmates. Strangely enough, during that broadcast were Lelouch revealed himself; she felt as though she should have been expecting something like it, but why? She had no recollection of Lelouch ever declaring himself to be royalty prior to that day, so why did she feel less surprised than what she should have been?

This eventually led Milly to think back on the occasional blanks in her memory she sometimes found, and the times she found herself looking at a visage of what could pass for a female Rolo, blind and in a wheelchair, superimposed on the image of the younger of the Lamperouge siblings. She couldn't understand why, and when she, on a whim, commented such topics earlier to Lelouch, was confused when he requested that she bring Rivalz with her, in a much more subdued tone. Which brings us to Milly's cause for unease.

Lelouch had asked for her to coordinate the upcoming St. Valentine's Festival. That in itself, was a shocker. During the Yearly Celebrations (which included a number of huge, country and city-wise, festivals, each carefully coordinated by a select few), the only people with higher authority than the supreme coordinator of the whole thing was the royalty. Even military commanders were forced to obey their authority if the coordinator asked for it. Milly, for all intents and purposes, had become one of the most powerful people on the planet for the next week.

She had agreed, after a few rounds of convincing from Lelouch. She was a little troubled due to time constraints (after all, she had only a week to plan out the Festival), but Lelouch had assured her that not only would she count with the most willing, talented and flexible of assistants, but also his full-backing as Emperor of Britannia; money, manpower, influence, resources, everything. He had also reassured her that he trusted her, that if there was any person currently alive who could create a memorable and entertaining party in the least amount of time possible; it was her, Milly Ashford. And he was not just asking for a party from her; it was a full-scale carnival, and she will have the best available to her to make it the best one possible.

Thus, after agreeing to meet the next day, and to bring Rivalz with her, (she had no idea how she would go from Area 11 all the way to Britannia in less than 24 hours, but Lelouch had mentioned a new experimental jet that he had prepped for his use sometime before he left Area 11, which he would inform it's pilot to expect her in the next following hours), she had set off to pack her belongings, informing Rivalz that the Emperor requested their presence before the day was up, and called her parents, telling them of her conversation. Although it took a few minutes to calm them down, they were willing to listen once Lelouch's name came up. To make a long story short, once they trusted her claim _("Well, not exactly trusting it—what would happen if His Highness were to learn of this? He wouldn't be too happy, that's for sure! Hee hee hee! Sorry, mom! Sorry, daddy!")_, they gave their consent.

Thus, as she waited for the car commissioned by his Highness personal vassals to come pick her up (and for that Rivalz to show his hide here), she began to deliberate on how to make this Festival a memorable one. Normally, ideas would come floating into her head, but she had to be professional, for once. She was supposed to make a gigantic one this time, and would have a ton of minio—, I mean, _assistants_ to help her. It wouldn't do to just pick the first random idea that came to her, nope, no sir! It would never d—!

"_Ooooh! I just got the greatest idea!"_ An excited Milly though, smiling mischievously, _"Hmhmhm! That Lelouch… You sly dog you, I just have the perfect idea. It's St. Valentine's after all, and that means that everyone's got a shot at love that day. You've been sacrificing your happiness for far too long just for the sake of your brother, Emperor or not. I'll make sure this is one St. Valentine's Day you will __**never**__ forget!"_

Thus, as Milly totally contradicted herself and her thoughts without even a moment of hesitation, she scrambled for a pen and a piece of paper to start planning her new evil schem—, err, I mean, her plans for the Carnival, she idly thought.

"_Hmmm. I wonder if that green-haired lady that I've seen hanging around Lelouch's is still with him. She'd better be, or else a__ll my plans will be for naught! Just you wait, "my Emperor"… Hahahahahahaha! Wahahahaha! Bwahahahahaha, ahahahahahah— hack!, hack, koff! Guhg, ugh…"_

-- Oh dear… Will someone bring her some syrup…? And a cup of herbal tea, while your at it. We're sorry for the inconveniences. While Milly recovers from her coughing fit due to sustaining an evil laugh for longer than what is healthy, why don't we break off her segment here, and focus on our poor victi—, ah, ahem, _protagonist_… Yes, that's the ideal word, protagonist! **Back to Lelouch! --**

**----LOLPOORLULU-LOLPOORLULU-LOLPOORLULU-LOLPOORLULU----**

Smiling contentedly, the Emperor of Britannia closed of his cell phone and relaxed, getting comfortable on his chair and proceeded to look over his domains. While it took some convincing, he was eventually able to get Milly to agree to become the coordinator. It was mildly troublesome, but nothing a genius of his level can't do. Now all he had to do was inform the Geass'd pilot of his experimental jet (Yes, that was not a joke) all the way over in Area 11 to go pick up Milly and Rivalz and take them here.

Back before the Black Knights betrayed him, he had planned to use a special jet plane to help him travel. Originally, it was intended to match the Knight of Three, Gino Weinberg's, Tristan Knightmare Frame in combat, spec by spec, complete with the capacity to transform from a fighter jet to a Knightmare and back. Eventually though, the idea was discarded since it seemed that they would need to heavily modify the existing Yggdrasil Drive schematics in order to allow the Frame to achieve full performance, as well as the need to built a special mechanism to allow the conversion between modes. Besides, even Rakshata Chawla herself was pretty busy with the rest of their logistics and equipment, and there was also the lack of a pilot skilled enough to maneuver the Frame. He doubted Kyoshiro Toudoh or any of the Shisei-Ken would be willing to be separated just to pilot a novelty Knightmare, as it stood. And to take the Guren away from Kallen was a fool's errand.

Thus, the idea was abandoned, though it still incorporated advanced technology, enough to put most of the current flight planes to shame. Under an alias, he had it refitted and converted to a personal transport jet, manned by a crew who had sworn their eternal loyalty to him (courtesy of his Geass). All that was left was to give it some passengers for it's maiden voyage, and Milly and Rivalz would be perfect for that role.

"_This is the life, definitely."_ He thought. Soft and refreshing afternoon breeze, calming sound of the waves as the water caressed the shore of the lake, the sound of footsteps as they made their toward him, the Cheese-Kun who had just appeared in front of h—!

"WAAAAAGH!" Lelouch jumped ten feet into the air as the accursed plush toy appeared out of nowhere just as he opened his eyes to once again take in the scenery. Damn that witch!

Sure enough, C.C. was visibly restraining herself from laughing at him. As it was, she got credit for only cracking as small smile before schooling her own expression to her usual deadpan.

"You look as if you've just seen a ghost." She mocked, hugging her Cheese-Kun to herself.

Lelouch, meanwhile, was currently trying to avoid having a heart attack. It took him five minutes to snap himself out of his stupor before he rose to his full height (which towered over the rather diminutive witch by more than a full head) and looking down at her, figuratively and literally speaking, a glare fixed on his face. "You Witch!" , he screeched, "What the hell is with you and that toy!" Needless to say, Lelouch was not vey happy.

C.C., for her part, looked up to him with nary a flexion of her features, instead continuing with her usual bored expression. "What, is it my fault that the one of the most powerful men in the world is not aware of his own surroundings? You got to get you act together, Lelouch. People of your stature soon become the target of murder attempts. All it takes is for you to piss off the wrong person, and someone will be after your head before you even realize it." She showed true seriousness—and just the slightest sign of concern, if you looked hard enough—as she spoke.

He nodded, previous jest forgotten. As Emperor, he would be responsible for an entire Empire now. He was forced to think for the best of the nation… But in order for his plan to work, he would also need to become somewhat of a tyrant. For now though, he was free to do whatever he wished.

Remembering about Milly, he quickly took out his phone again and dialed the pilot all the way over in Japan. Discussing a few details with him, he ended with giving the pilot the command to relay the locations of Milly's home to the men who would be assigned the task of picking up his former Student Council fellow mates. All the while, his accomplice watched him with an amused look in her eyes. She strode to his side as he finished his call and pocketed the phone.

Lelouch spotted her out of the corner of his eye, and as he finished talking, he turned towards the lake. Witch and Warlock stood side-by-side as they gazed together over the expanse of the scenery.

They stayed together, enjoying a companionable silence for a time. He stole a furtive glace at her, and was once again amazed at how beautiful a sight she made, when just the slightest hint of a smile showed on her face. He smiled as well, before looking back towards the horizon…

Unknown to him, C.C. had spotted his glance, and she was smiling because of an entirely different reason…

**-LOLFORESHADOWING-LOLFORESHADOWING-LOLFORESHADOWING-**

"_Whenever do you plan on telling him my consciousness survives still, C.C. dear?"_

"_Whenever he plans on asking of course. I still have a little trouble believing your still not __**completely**__ gone, Marianne."_

_  
"Well, if it makes you feel better, I couldn't believe it myself. I thought that we were goners for sure when Lelouch somehow commanded God itself to erase us from existence. Looks like only my long-standing link to Anya through my Geass saved me, although I doubt I'd be able to take command of her body again unless she allowed me to."_

"_Are you perhaps implying that Charles is not gone completely?"_

"…_Partly. Much like myself, his consciousness lives on in another. I have reason to believe it's Lelouch."_

"_Oh? And why is that?"_

"_The only way to kill someone with a Code, is to remove the Code and take it for yourself. The Code would then absorb the Geass, thus eliminating the ability and granting immortality. However, for the full process to take place, the Code Bearer must first die, in order to begin life as an immortal. Even so, you can still see the Geass Crane sigil on__ some place on the Code Bearer's body even before the "First Death". That place is typically where the previous Bearer also had that sigil. V.V., and then Charles, possessed the sigil on their hands. However, as we vanished, I noticed the absence of the sigil on Charles's hand. And as we recently had contact, I did not observe the presence of the sigil anywhere on Lelouch's arms."_

"_So? What is your point? I know all this already. It WAS me, after all, who told you all that."_

"_I believe, C.C., that Lelouch somehow absorbed the Code from Charles, without manifesting the Code on his being. This could mean that the Code was lost somehow, or that it combined with Lelouch's Geass as a side result of directly interacting with God._

…_If that were true, then should Lelouch die, he would not only gain immortality as Code Bearer, but would also retain possession of his Geass. In theory, it would also __dramatically strengthen his Geass, to the point where the Geass of the Absolute Order would become the Geass of the Absolute Power. Lelouch would become a God."_

"_H-How? ...No, wait. Since the power of Geass is, in actuality, the power of the untapped human potential, absorbing a Code and it somehow combining with Geass would awaken all possible forms of that potential in Lelouch's __psyche. He would truly become the ultimate being... All that power in the hands of only one man! What a frightening concept... Code Geass..."_

C.C.'s eyes would have bulged out of her skull, and it was only because of her practiced years of keeping a deadpan face that Lelouch did not notice her amazement.

"_But still, that would not explain how Charles's consciousness would survive within Lelouch."_

"_In actuality, it does. That is rather simple, compared to our own theory. Code Bearers maintain a special link to the mind of those who have received Geass from them. That much we know. Because of the nature of my Geass, as well as my situation, it formed an even more unique link between us, which allowed us to communicate, as well as allow my mind to coexist with your own. Since Charles's Geass left a deep mark on Lelouch's psyche, it also created a link between them. Add to the fact that Charles's sigil entered into direct contact with Lelouch's being, whilst his Geass had reached maximum level, and it gives me reason to think that all is left is for Charles to manifest soon. Lelouch will not enjoy that concept, I'm sure, and will come for answers…"_

"…_Which will probably mean I will have to reveal your continued existence. It will be troublesome to explain it. Can't you do it yourself?"_

"_Well, I can't take your own body. I could speak through Anya, but you'd have to enter in direct with her. We don't know where she is…"_

"_Hmm… Couldn't you influence her to come seek us out herself? Last time I remember, she seemed desperate in getting people to acknowledge her memory, as well as trying to keep track of her own self. If you could somehow convince her to seek us out, maybe…"_

"…_I'll see what I can do. Right now, though, how does it feel to stand next to the Emperor and his most trusted advisor?" _

"_Nice, I guess. Since I'm going to be publicly recognized as his personal aide, of sorts, I won't have to hide like before. And I get free pizza!"_

"_You __**always**__ got free pizza. You just got it at the expense of another."_

"_Well, now I get pizza 100% free of charges. It's good to have free access to the Emperor's personal phone line."_

"_Enjoy it while you can C.C. Something tells me that when Charles appears before Lelouch, my son's not going to be pleased. At all."_

"…_Like I didn't already know that."_

"_Oh well. How goes the proceedings of Zero Requiem? Are you all going to go through with it?"_

"_Yes we are. He's resolute. You'd have better luck forcing him to forget Nunally than to get him to change his mind about it… In other words, he'd laugh in your face and spit in it, before probably using his Geass to make you do something utterly embarrassing, then throwing you in a cell and torturing you before finally being killed by carrion beasts and raving rabbits. Then get that cat—Arthur, I think was his name—to take a shit on your corpse for good measure… Then poke you with a 10-foot pole. And beat you within an inch of your life, again, if you're still alive."_

"…_Oh my. He's not that extreme, isnt' he...? …Wait, don't answer__ that. He always did even the craziest things, for Nunally… Are you sure he doesn't have a crush on her? Oh, speaking of, how's Nunally?"_

"…_Uhhhh…" _Was all C.C. could say. She had never bothered to mention Nunally in the couple of conversations she's had with Marianne ever since learning she wasn't _all_ gone.

Immediately suspecting something was wrong, she asked of C.C., tone suddenly cold, _"C.C., dear. Where. Is. My. Daughter?"_

"_I had nothing to do with it, I swear!" _C.C. would have been sweating bullets had it not been for the fact she was standing next to Lelouch. Even if Marianne was willing to risk her children for the Ragnarok Connection, she still loved her children dearly. In that regard, she was much like Lelouch in the sense that you would be screwed nine different ways to Sunday without realizing it until it was much too late for even getting on her bad side.

"_Oh? What is it, _dear_?"_ Her tone was extremely sweet. Like plaque-inducing sweet. The kind of sweet tone that served to indicate the recipient of the following words was now royally screwed.

"_Eh… Eheheheh… Well, you see it's like… You know… I was just, kind of there and… well, she kind !"_

"…"

"…_Marianne…?"_

"_C.C…"_

"_!!!"_

"_**KONO BAKAYAROU!!!**__"_

"_GAAAAAAAHHHH!!"_

**---------LOLPOORC.C.-LOLPOORC.C.-LOLPOORC.C.-LOLPOORC.C.---------**

"C.C.?" Lelouch spoke in slight unease as suddenly the atmosphere turned cold around him. He couldn't explain it. Suddenly, as they were overlooking the palace grounds, he felt a strange sense of doom overcome the general area around them. It was not necessarily aimed at him, but rather _next_ to him. So it was with a sense of foreboding that he turned to look at the woman beside him.

Her head was bowed, in a way so that her emerald bangs covered her eyes. She was also shaking all over. The hell? C.C., normally unflappable deadpan master, _shaking on her boots_? Lelouch did not know whether to take a picture with his phone and laugh, or turn around 180º degrees and run for the hills in complete terror.

C.C.'s head suddenly shot up and looked at him. For but a moment, her eyes were blank, devoid of life. It only scared him further. Then, with a blink, her eyes returned to normal… well, no they didn't. Instead of her usual look, she had a look of mischief on her face. Not exactly unheard of from C.C., but totally out of character to do so just from nothing short of shaking out of fear.

"_Oooohhhh, Luuuuluuuu!"_

Now it was Lelouch's turn to shake in fear. Who the **hell** was she, and what did she do with C.C.?! Regardless, he had to reply, fast!

"…Uhhh…, yes C.C.?"

If anything, her expression suddenly mixed with a touch of craziness. _("Shit, is it possible to feel this much fear?!")_ "Oh, nothing! Nevermind good ol' me! I just got the need to work off some frustration!" With this said, she turned on her heel and headed straight for the nearest tree.

With a wide grin on her face, C.C. began to bang her head repeatedly against the tree. She did not stop, even when she began to bleed. She banged her head again and again, until her head caved in and her lifeless body plummeted to the ground in a spectacular show of gore. All the while she held a wide grin on her face.

Lelouch was scared out of his soul. Had it not been for his amazing ability to stomach such things, he would have pissed his pants long ago. As it was, he congratulated himself for not fainti—I mean, valiantly standing up to things not for the weak of stomach. Managing to stare blankly at C.C.'s corpse, he suddenly got an idea to take his mind off the recent show of an out-of-character C.C.

With resolution, he allowed a bit of the closet pervert we all know he was to show through his smile as he bent down over C.C.'s body and moved to play a prank on her as payback for using his credit cards to order so much pizza almost two years ago…

**LOLWTHNOWI'MJUSTBEINGOBNOXIOUSAREN'TI?WELLDEALWITHIT!**

Having played his prank on C.C., he attempted a pathetic one in trying to be heroic by bringing C.C.'s corpse to the palace on his own. Eventually succumbing to his own physical unfitness, he collapsed along with C.C.'s body, thoroughly spent, breaking into a massive sweat. Luckily not drenched in blood. He had the decency to wait for her head to reform itself before carrying her. Anyways, just looking at her lie there peacefully reminded him of the hell he just went through.

SO, it was with great pain that our poor Emperor called his Knight of Zero for aid. Not 5 minutes had passed before Suzaku arrived, entering into the scene by flying in with his trademark spin kick, blowing a nearby tree clear off the ground, violently uprooted. Oh, the joys of the willing suspension of disbelief…

"You called for me, my lord", Asked Suzaku, who had settled to kneel before his Emperor. It was a statement, not a question, and he could tell due to the amused glance his Knight shot him.

Choosing to ignore his insolence, Lelouch extended his hand to him. Suzaku took it, then helped him to his feet. He then pointed to the heap of green-haired female flesh on the ground, which is commonly know to the public as "C.C.", and gave Suzaku a pointed look. Getting the bigger picture, he knelt next to the Gray Witch and picked her up, before starting for the palace, C.C. thrown over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes, and an irate Emperor who's eye was twitching sporadically. Truly, so long as the audience got the chance to see something awesome, their willing to believe anything—

***BAM!***

"Nani?!"Suzaku turned around to be treated to the sight of an out-cold Lelouch, who lay sprawled on the ground, a comically exaggerated bump sticking out of his head, and a suspiciously guilty-looking brick, which was not on the general premises last time he looked. Casting a suspicious look around, he carefully knelt next to his friend and picked him up. Seeing as he was still alive, and no bomb had suddenly detonated as some form of karmic backlash, he shrugged, smiled and continued on his merry way like nothing happened, both Emperor and Witch thrown over his shoulders.

"_It is __around 6:00pm"_, Suzaku idly thought. _"If what Lelouch said accidentally over the phone was true, then Milly and Rivalz should already be here in Britannia by now."_

Meanwhile, all the way over to the other side of the huge walls that separated the Royal Palace from the rest of Pendragon, Anya Aelstreim—or rather, if you bothered to be specific, it was currently Marianne commandeering the body—smiled as she heard a satisfying thump. Violet-Red rings surrounded her eyes, which instead of their usual, pinkish color, where now a deep violet.

"Oh, Lelouch dear. You should know better than attempt to break the fourth wall against the author's wishes."

Turning to look towards the invisible _fourth wall_, she smiled:

"Isn't that so, Author-san?"

-- Quite correct dear. Thank you for the favor, Marianne. --

"It's nothing. I take it my sudden control over Anya's body suggests that the next chapter will feature flashbacks?"

-- Correct. At least two, to more precise. One will be a feeble attempt of humor describing what was Lelouch's joke. The other will describe how you came to control Anya's body… As well as to how the hell you got here. I may also do another to better explain some aspects of the story. --

"I see. Then I guess it's best to lose consciousness now so the patrols find this body?"

-- It would set up for next chapter, yes. --

"Ok! Makusarete!"

-- Actually, Marianne… --

"Yes?"

-- It's fine to use Japanese every now and then, but don't overdo it ok? I'll be forced to translate what it roughly means now, and I know some people don't like too much of it in their lectures. Secondly, you broke the fourth wall too. You know what that means right? Of course you do. --

"Kuso!"

***BAM!***

Anya's body collapsed to the ground, as if it lacked bones of any kind. A gigantic bump was on her head, much like poor Lelouch. Another of those suspiciously convenient bricks was next to her body.

The guard patrols would eventually find her body and carry it to the palace, having recognized her as a Knight of the Round. She would only wake up some time after Lelouch did.

Speaking about, let's see how he's faring in his dreams…

**LOL!,SOI'LLTRYTOLAYITOFF!**

_Lelouch was dreaming. He was sure he was. What other explanation could there be when one moment he was dreaming of owning a personal harem (which consisted of the many hot girls he's met over his life), then suddenly find himself falling down a rather psychedelic typhoon of colors. Had he been epileptic, he might have suffered from a seizure, but as it stood, he was falling down the long colored tunnel with a bored look on his face, arms idly crossed as a book he was reading a week ago materialized in front of him to provide minor entertainment._

_When he was finally getting to the good part (read: A sex scene), he crashed to floor, leaving a comical imprint of his body on the floor. His leg twitched a couple of times before going limp._

_Charles Zi Britannia stared blankly as his son lay on the floor. When he finally began to tire of waiting, his son started to compose himself and ceased his kissing of the floor. With an almost childish expression of excitement on his face, the late Emperor hid behind a conveniently placed wall, peeking out to look at his son._

_Lelouch stood up and looked around. Where in the world was he? Apart from himself, the gray marble floor and the suspicious wall raising from the ground, it was white all around him. Plain white as far as the eye can see._

_Charles chose this moment to step around the wall and give the biggest scare of his life to his son. Or he would have, had Lelouch not suddenly turned around with a "BOO!" on his lips._

_Charles gasped in surprise and tried to take a step back, but ended up stepping on his cape and tripping, falling to the floor with enough strength to shake the world around them. _

_Lelouch looked at the sight of his father struggling with his own cape, on the floor, trying to disentangle himself. He palmed for his phone, and found it was not on his person. Sighing in disappointment, he choose to be the good Samaritan and helped his father to his feet. Getting a small grumble of thanks, he looked expectantly at him._

_Father and Son looked at each other, Lelouch with a disdainful expression, Charles with a serious one._

"_Well? What the hell are you waiting for? And what was THAT just now?"_

"_Hmph. It has been a while, my son. Forgive your father for attempting to indulge himself when he's been spending the last few weeks in this god-forsaken place, alone, without anything to do." The irony of his last sentence was not lost on him as well._

"_Last few weeks? If I'm correct, it's been 2 days since I commanded God to get rid of you." _

"_Yes well, a week passes here for each day that passes on your plane. And it will continue to do so until we link fully."_

"_Wait, what? Link fully? The hell are you talking about? And where is "here", anyway?"_

"_Why Lelouch, "here" is a spiritual plane where we can meet only due to special circumstances. You do know __how your mother used to talk to C.C.?", getting a nod, he continued, "Well, it's the same. "Here", is your mind. And I can see everything you see, and I must say that you got both your father's tastes for jokes, and his tastes for women. Good show Lelouch!"_

_Lelouch could only look blankly at his father, before what he said __**fully**__ registered on his mind. How he wished he could knock himself out._

_As if to comply with his wishes, out of the blue his father handed a brick to him. Giving him a look of understanding, his father stepped back._

_***BAM!* *BAM!* *B-B-B-B-BAM!***_

_Stumbling a bit, he looked incredulously to the pile of dust that used to be a perfectly dangerous brick. _

"_I pity you, my son. Your father had to experience the same. You can't lose consciousness here. I mean, you already are unconscious!"_

"_Okay… Let's just sit down, and talk about how the hell you're here, why the fuck I'm even considering this, and how I'm going to get back at the author for this cra—!_

_***BOOOOM!***_

_Staring in disbelief, Charles looked on as his soon somehow was hit out of nowhere by a giant version of the brick he had handed to him earlier. Landing perfectly balanced on the current Emperor's head, the gargantuan brick split down the middle, giant cracks showing, before turning to dust in an instant._

"…_Ow…" Was all he said before falling unconscious in his own unconsciousness._

"_What the… Hey! Didn't I already explain about how those things are not supposed to be possible?!" Yelled an outraged Charles._

-- Willing suspension of disbelief, remember old chap? --

_Getting a look of realization, he hit his open palm with his right fist. "Oh! Right, right. I forgot." _

-- Glad we can understand each other. And now… --

_***BOOOOM*!**_

_Take what happened to Lelouch, and double it for poor old Charles. He was out cold before he even began falling to the ground._

-- …That. So you see, I can't have people breaking the fourth wall at every turn, know what I mean. Oh how silly of me, you can't hear me. Oh well. Stay tuned for the 3rd installment of **The Crown of Love – Preparing for the Festival.** Hope you enjoyed it! --

**!**

**_"Did you find it pleasing. Question Mark."_**

**-- Speaking style: Dr. Letz Shake.**

**A.N.: And that's a wrap. What was your opinion? I had a lot of fun writting this chapter, though what I'm worried is how you people will take to my abuse of some of my favorite characters! I'm half expecting a mob of rabid fangirls to form up outside my house, with pitchforks and torches and everything! Anyways, please review! Don't hesitate to inform me of anything you didn't like. No flames though!**

**As I told Marianne, now I'll have to give a rough translation of each piece of Jap. that made it through. One I got off Wikipedia. The others are from my experience from watching anime.**

**- Shisei-Ken: Four Holy Swords: The group consisting of Toudoh's four most trusted subordinates and platoon commanders. They all possess impressive skills in Knightmare Piloting and are experienced and disciplined soldiers. They along with Toudoh are a circle of friends, all trusting each other, but above all, loyal to Toudoh to an almost fanatical level. They have learned to work together, perfectly in tandem, to crush oponents with frightening ease. They consist of Nagisa Chiba, Kosetsu Urabe, Shogo Asahina and Ryoga Senba.**

**- "KONO BAKAYAROU!": Roughly means "You big idiot!".**

**- "Nani?!": What?!**

**- "Makusarete!": Roughly means, "Leave it to me!"**

**- "Kuso!": Dammnit! Also, can be taken as "Shit!"(the more accurate and obvious word would be "Shimmatta!")**


	3. Converging Destiny

**A.N.: Third chapter here! It's not "Preparing for the Festival", as I'd said. I just wrote Rivalz's segment one night, and in 2 hours I wrote what would have usually taken me 4 hours, counting time to think it up. *Shrug* After that, it all started to come together. I like to think that I'm becoming better as I write each chapter. Enjoy! Oh btw, the first winner of the poll has been decided. It's Anya. I've also alluded to the other 3 top choices right now, which are Milly, Kallen and Kaguya. I have half a mind to just give Lelouch a harem--**

**Lelouch: YES!**

**Me: O_o How the hell did you get here?! *Proceeds to beat Lulu to a pulp***

**Lelouch: X_X**

**Anyways, before I'm forced to flee and hide in a bomb shelter from the raging fangirls, I would like to announce a few things:**

**1. Emerald Caress's second chapter starts being written tomorrow. Rejoice!**

**2. I'm making my poll a normal one; ie, no more "blind" voting, just for kicks.**

**3. Enjoy!**

***Starts running***

**Note: I'm dissapointed, not in my readers, but in myself because of my incapacity of producing an overall favorable reaction to my last chapter. In hindsight, it was a little too over the top, with the Karmic Intervention and all. Perhaps that explains why this chapter was a lot more serious in nature in comparison to the last one. But then, every story needs a little foreshadowing every now and then. Btw, in the last scene, it's a style I've sometimes noticed is used for cancelling any cliffhanger. By derivately ending at an answer, you can eliminate the need to put someone listening in to a private conversation. Pretty nifty, if I do say so myself. Keep in mind it still can be done, but as a flashback or something. Lastly, there is a flashback in this chapter. I'm going to number my flashbacks, just for convenience's sake. **

**Enought of my freakshow! Here we go!**

_

* * *

_

**_"Battle Cry."_**

**_--Dr. Letz Shake_**

Rivalz Cardemonde was going to die. He just _knew_ he would die. Why? Well, you see, it all started like this…

**FLASHBACK #º1: "Rivalz, your fate has been sealed!"**

Rivalz was enjoying a nice midday Saturday in his home, lazily spread over his living room's couch as he switched through the channels of the T.V., looking for something, _anything_ worth looking. He wasn't too worried though, because even if he didn't find anything entertaining, he still had a nice set of brand-new manga awaiting him. If there was one thing those Elevens knew how to do, thought Rivalz, is how to make a _good_ manga, unlike those imitations attempted by their conquerors.

_**Then, his cell phone rang, and without even caring to look for the caller ID, he foolishly opened the phone, and sealed his fate.**_

"Rivalz here, who is it?" He droned lazily, not knowing just what he was getting himself into.

"_Heya Rivalz!"_ Came the perky reply. In an instant, his bored expression changed to one of full energy as he recognized the voice of his long-time crush.

Joyfully, he spoke, "Milly! Hey to you too! How've you been?"

"_No time for that!"_ Milly sounded rather hasty. Rivalz looked at the phone weirdly for a moment, before hearing Milly continue. _"Rivalz! How quickly can you pack for a week-long travel to the mainland, and then make your way here?!"_

By "here", she was referring to her home. Going to her house was not what surprised him. What surprised him though, was her previous question. Nonetheless, he thought for a moment before answering:"I think, if I were to start right now, and rush through it without screwing up too much, I'd be able to pack everything up in about an hour and a half." Pausing to look at the clock, he read, _"12:40 pm"_, then continuing, "I might be able to make it to your house by 2:00 pm or so. What's the rush though?"

The response was instantaneous. _"No time to explain! Pack your stuff and meet me here! Chop chop! No slacking off! If you're not here by 2:30, I'm going to assume you've deserted our command and shall sic the mainland's armies on you!"_ And with that threat said, she hung up.

Rivalz was confused. Sic the mainland's armies on him? What the hell? Since when did Milly hold that much sway within the empire? The only person who could do so shouldn't even care about that, and that was the Emperor, Lelouch… his friend. Thinking about him made Rivalz feel depressed. Ever since he'd gone and disappeared, he and the rest of the school had all thought the worst, believing he had gotten kidnapped by Zero or had gotten caught in crossfire or something! They just knew that they did not know where he was, and that caused Lelouch's many fangirls to suffer from nervous breakdowns in rapid succession, like a line of dominoes, one's snapping leading to another to crack under the worry and grief and so on. The school had been in chaos because of that, and had it not been for Milly's timely intervention, he had little doubt the school would have collapsed into itself. As it was, even when he revealed himself to the world and subsequently took the throne, it still caused quite a stir in the school.

Although many people were relieved (himself included), many were also highly curious of this. Since when was Lelouch royalty? Logical thinking led to that answer being "always", since careful assessment of the other royalties' reactions pointed to the fact that they knew him, but were also surprised by his appearance. Even so, it still had been quite a shocker. To think their dark-haired Vice-President had been so important all this time, and he'd been right among their midst all this time, without them even noticing at all. It should have been obvious, in hindsight, Rivalz would later think. After all, he and Rolo both came under the surname "Lamperouge", which had been Empress Marianee Vi Britannia's maiden name before marrying the Emperor. But then again, everyone had simply forgotten about that fact once she had been assassinated, and the name had all but fallen into obscurity by the time Lelouch and Rolo enrolled.

Rolo… That brought another wonder to Rivalz. At times, he found himself uncomfortable around the younger Lamperouge. He couldn't help it. No matter how many times he told himself it was wrong to feel uneasy around a friend, he couldn't help but feel as if that boy was in the wrong place. As in, he was _out of place_ in their circle of friends. As if someone else should have been there, instead of Rolo. Or, as if the appearance of Rolo was… _wrong_. Like, he should have looked different. He just didn't know what to think anymore.

What he did know, however… Was that all this thinking and dwelling on past things was really beginning to tire him out.

"Man, this is so troublesome…" Scratching his head at it all, Rivalz shrugged and proceeded to obey the instructions given to him by Milly. He'd long ago learned the valuable lesson to comply with her wishes without making much of a fuss. Once she set her mind to something, nothing, absolutely _nothing_, could force her to change her mind. And woe to those who would reject her will, for only the most foolhardy and stubborn (or overwhelmingly powerful, he added) of men would do so, and stand even a _chance_ of survival. Rivalz pitied those kinds of people. He really did. He just chose to do so, a safe distance away; far, **far** away from the visible line of fire.

Thus, it was with an almost casual pace that he complied and began to pack, blissfully unaware of the hell he would be put through in the next following hours…

_**Ignorance is truly bliss... Up until the point where you cease to be ignorant, that is, as Rivalz would soon realize this horrible truth... But by then…**_

_**It would already have been too late…**_

**END OF FLASHBACK **

"Yaaaaaaaaaayyyyyyy! Faster faster! Go faster! Wooooohoooo!" Those were Milly Ashford's joyous screams, as she, Rivalz, their luggage, their chauffer and his companion raced down the highway towards an undisclosed location. The speed they were going at was amazing! She'd never been so excited about speed in her entire life!

She wanted **more**!

"Nooooooooooooooo! Please, oh **god**, PLEASE! **NO MORE!**" …And _those_, where Rivalz's terrified screams, as he, Milly, their luggage, their chauffer and his companion raced down the highway towards an undisclosed location. The speed they were going at was ridiculous! He'd never been so terrified about speed in his entire life!

He did **NOT** want more!

You're all probably wondering; "How the hell did this happen?" Well, we're not delving back into that blue-headed idiot's mind; I'm sure one was enough for all of our poor neurons. Thus…

When he arrived at her house, there was a rather expensive, not to mention speedy-looking car stationed in the front. He had to come running from his house, bags and luggage trailing and all, it was a miracle in and of itself that he hadn't killed someone. As it stood, Milly dropkicked him into the car's open door, before going in herself. A man in dark, concealing clothes took his luggage and put it in the trunk, before sitting in the passenger's seat.

Not five 5 seconds passed after that before the engines roared to life, and within a couple of minutes, we come to what can only be Rivalz's most terrible moment of his life.

Much to his dismay, and Milly's joy, the driver obliged her, going even faster than the already extreme speed they were going at. Miraculously, it was still well within the speed limits established for this particular area. An unfeeling part of his brain noted it should be around 2:25pm. And Milly had babbled about something resembling an airplane ride. Oh God, **what the fuck** did he get himself into?!

15 minutes of screaming, pleading, squealing, racing, close brushes with death and reality-defying shows of driving prowess later, they were staring dumbly up and what could pass off for a military jet, but bigger, more advanced looking, and overall with a sleeker appearance. It was colored primarily in black, though there were some gold and white highlights and lines that traced subtle patters across its hull. Its color scheme eventually transformed to a dull purple as it neared the edges of the upper hull of the craft. The belly was much like the upper side, but with red and deep blue instead of white and gold. Finishing the ensemble was the marine blue and spectral green tracing a strange, unique pattern on the side of the hull. It reminded them of a bird, a crane, to be more precise, though it looked about ready to charge right at them. It seemed fitting for the ship, somehow.

"Right this way, please." Monotone was apparently all the rage now, because that's exactly the tone that was used in every single sentence uttered by the crew of technicians who were about, setting things up for launch.

"My lady Ashford, the Emperor is expecting your presence by no later than 6:00 pm. We must launch now if we wish to make it in time." Was the curt, albeit emotionless reply. Milly frowned, but asked one question.

"We'd have barely 3 hours to get to the mainland. Just how fast _is_ this thing anyway?" She was intrigued, but she could already feel that nearly perpetual feel of excitement building up in her tummy.

"The _Black Crane_ is currently the fastest method of transportation in the world, my lady. Nothing short of instantaneous teleportation can beat it, as of now. This is why it is currently his Imperial Majesty's personal jet, but hasn't gotten around to using it yet. You both are our first ever passengers." His answer, although still without much emotion, couldn't help but come off as smug, and that alone said many, good, _good_ things about this baby, Milly decided.

"Allright! Load all our cargo into that bad boy, and then let's go give it a spin. Get me there the in fastest speed this baby can put out, in the least possible amount of time!" She was nearly jumping where she st—scratch that, she already was.

With a bow, the attendant replied, "It shall be done at once, milady. You and your peer should board the _Crane _while we carry out your command."… He promptly left to do just that.

"Remember! Faster. I want us to go **faster**! Ten times as fast as that car we used to get her—no twenty—no, a million times faster! Faster. _Faster. FASTER! __**FASTER! **__**FASTER!**_ Nyahahahahahahahahaha!"

And so, with a boisterous laugh, Milly hurried off to board the_ Black Crane_.

At this point, Rivalz had been reduced to a sobbing wreck on the floor, muttering incoherently about how he cursed himself for even getting out of bed that day. And it got so distracting and inconvenient for the technicians, to the point where one big, bulky securityman grabbed him with a single hand and dragged him to the plane, head bumping against a milliard of things all the way.

_**Truly, Rivalz's fate had been decided the moment he ever first laid eyes upon the Devil, Milly Ashford herself…**_

Thus, it is with this that they reached Britannia in record time, proving that truly, the world was at the fingertips of her Emperor, and it was only a matter of time, before everything in the spectrum of known creation acknowledged that fact. But that would still require some time, and by then, our Emperor would only grow stronger with his Empress by his side, as the following weeks would prove to shock the world to its core… Or would he choose to follow in his father's footsteps? Only time would tell...

For the time being though, let's continue our torture—I'm sorry, let me rephrase that, our _tour_ of our dear Lulu's life. **BACK TO LELOUCH!**

**LO AND BEHOLD! THE DEMON AWAKENS!**

With a groan, the Emperor of Britannia opened his violet eyes, before quickly closing them as the world exploded into darkness and strange colors before his eyes. Blinking rapidly, his eyes managed to adapt to the illumination, a part of his mind identifying the time to be around 8:00pm, before turning to look to his side, stare blank. A witch whose-name-shall-not-be-revealed-because-of-Karmic-Intervention was snuggled up to his side, snoring slightly. Looking at her lie there reminded Lelouch of his prank…

…

-- What, you guys thought I would go into another Flashback so soon? Not yet folks! --

Man, what was his prank anyway? Deciding not to think of that at the moment, he focused back to the witch, whose head was comfortably resting on the crook of his shoulder, and whose _soft, deceivingly curvaceous _body, often cloaked by her concealing straightjacket, was _fully molded, perfectly,_ with his own being.

Were it not for how **perfect**, how utterly _beautiful_, how peaceful she looked, sleeping in bliss there, just how RIGHT it all felt, to run his fingers through her long mane of soft emerald locks, as she sighed in unconscious pleasure, before snuggling up closer, as she looked for all intents like a goddess, bathed in the moonlight, he would have taken advantage of this opportunity. As it was, he found himself gazing down at her in wonder, and before he realized, his head had begun lowering to her own, and it was only because her eyes opened so suddenly, that with a startled yelp, he separated from her, taking a small jump backwards—a jump, I'll say, carried him over the edge of the bed and into the cold, hard floor, taking the sheets with him and subsequently entangling himself with them. He began to struggle helplessly.

C.C. looked down at the amusing sight of the Emperor doing battle with his own sheets, before getting off the bed and helping him. When that was over and done with, they simply sat there, against the bed, on the floor, staring blankly at each other, before both broke into an uncharacteristic fit of laughter and giggles, eventually coming to lean on each other. Calming down, C.C. spoke.

"A-alright, let's see. We both woke up in a rather compromising position, then I opened my eyes at the least fortunate time, if your actions are anything to go by.", at this her eyes took to look at him in amusement, even as he grumbled, "Then you fell and nearly got beat by your sheets. Does all of this seem suspicious to you?"

A split moment of consideration gave way to Lelouch's own amusement, before continuing, "Yep. It's painfully obvious this was a collective attempt at getting us to hook up. After me, C.C., if you wouldn't mind."

Taking a small breath, he spoke aloud: "Jeremiah…"

C.C.'s turn, "Suzaku…" followed by both.

"Sayoko…"

"Get the hell out, wherever you are!"

This was followed by stumbles and yelps of surprise from somewhere behind the room's entrance, which Lelouch just identified as his own, as hurried footsteps left the general premises, and hushed, horrified whispers eventually gave to silence. Both nodded in satisfaction.

"That's that. However, we can't let them just go away and forget this happened, now can we?" With a wry chuckle, he rang a special bell that was on a table to the side. This bell emitted special sound waves that could only be heard by Jeremiah's mechanized ear. This would not only alert him his lord requested his presence, but that in this situation, he also wanted the two Japanese co-conspirators to come with him. Lelouch knew him well enough to know that if he went down, he wouldn't go down alone, amusing as it was.

So it was 4 minutes later that a hesitant knock came to his door, and Lelouch answered with a curt "Enter"…

**LO**** AND BEHOLD! UNHOLY GATHERING!**

When Suzaku came into palace grounds with both a bloodied C.C. and a comically injured Lelouch, both knocked out, it caused a commotion that was thankfully kept limited to only the palace staff. As it was, after the many doctors in the palace came to the unanimous decision that they would be alright, everyone gave a collective sigh of relief.

This was followed by the Knight of Zero being interrogated by many about what happened. He said that the Emperor called him to lend him a hand, and he did. Mysteriously, after a strange impact sound, he turned and was treated to the sight of an unconscious Lelouch. It was after this that he reached the palace. Everyone decided to leave it at that, but patrols and guards were informed to double security and to immediately report anything out of the ordinary… And to bring back that felon of a brick so that it would face appropriate punishment.

Suzaku may have evaded most of the staff, but the Emperor's two most devoted followers after himself, Sayoko and Jeremiah, were quick to hound him for any more details he may have kept, but it turned out that that was it. It did not take Sayoko 3 seconds to continue on how this would be the perfect opportunity. "For what?", the other two asked. With her usual professional, yet kind expression, she commented that, ever since she first came to acknowledge the presence of C.C. on the young master's room, back when she was employed by the Ashfords as the Lamperouge's personal maid, she had always believed that she was Lelouch's mistress, and merely wished to keep his sister from the world's reality just a bit longer. It seemed fair and considerate of him, to her, so she kept it a secret until C.C. came out herself.

But she never disclosed her thoughts about the possible relationship the green-haired woman had to Lelouch, so it was with palpable elation that she proposed that the two men before her helped her bring some happiness into the Emperor's life. It was common knowledge amongst the three that the only times Lelouch was truly happy, was when he was with Nunally, who was now gone. Thus, if they could get the Gray Witch to take Nunally's place as the one who could make him happy, then the Emperor would be of a saner state of mind, not to mention it was about damn time. Of course, they all chose to ignore, against their better judgment, that if the plan failed, and both the victims of it realized who was behind it, then they would face the consequences of plotting (if for the good of said Crown) against the Crown.

Thus, when they first saw (through a crack in the door to the bedroom) Lelouch's initial reaction, their first thought was _"Success!"_. So it was a natural reaction that when that though was proven wrong, and the two called their names, that they shot off away from the door in fright of the Emperor's anger, away from the chambers and from each other, going off in different directions.

We now come to Jeremiah, who is submissively kneeling before the Emperor and his partner, as his accomplices and he were ready to face punishment. When he heard the chime of _The Bell_, he knew he would have to go to the Imperial Chambers, with Sayoko and Suzaku. His senses were screaming at him to run, but his loyalty, a type now rarely seen these days in the current era, held strong to the calling of his liege. So, knowing his mission, he hunted down the two Japanese, and dragged them to the Emperor. Knocking on the door, he received his permission to enter, and the three knelt. They were now awaiting their sentence.

Lelouch looked down at their kneeling forms in utter amusement, a sentiment mirrored in the face of the Gray Wtich. Speaking in a loud, clear, commanding and regal tone of voice, he declared, to each of them.

"Suzaku Kururugi, Knight of Zero… Sayoko Shinozaki, Ninja of Clan Shinozaki… Jeremiah Gottwald, Supreme Commander of the Imperial Forces of Britannia… You now kneel before me in repentance of your crime of plotting against the Royal Crown. Nevertheless, I cannot let you go unpunished, regardless of the exemplary loyalty you three have showed thus far…"

The trio's heads simply lowered further, waiting…

"Thus, I shall administer individual punishments for each of you. However, since in six days, 3 hours and 34 minutes the St. Valentine's week-long festival begins, I shall also make it so the punishments are built around the festival. Because of this, the punishments will be administered as "jobs" by the supreme coordinator… Who should have arrived by now in my personal jet. Suzaku?"

Hearing his call, he rose to his feet, "Thank you my lord. Yes, by now, the supreme coordinator should have already arrived at the private airport, and should be awaiting further instructions. In the mean time, she should currently be planning out the festival in advance, which is a good thing I may say, given that we count with less than a week now."

This pleased him. It reassured him he did not waste time with that little project, and it also got one worry off his back for now. "Excellent news." Smiling pleasantly, he turned to walk towards the balcony beyond the windows.

It was at this time that Jeremiah chose to speak up, though he did not raise his head. "Forgive me for my insolence, my lord, but, if I may ask, who is the supreme coordinator? Surely it must be someone extremely capable, to be chosen by our liege himself and given access to his private jet." He couldn't help but raise his eyes to look towards his Emperor's back, which by now had opened the windows. The night breeze filled the room, enveloping its occupants and causing the drapes and the Emperor's clothes especially, to billow in the breeze. This combined with the contrast of his figure in the moonlight only served to reaffirm the grace every person of his status seemed to possess.

""Extremely capable", eh? That's a fitting word I'd say. Very well. You have proven yourself time and again to be privy to such knowledge, Jeremiah. The supreme coordinator of this festival, is none other than Milly Alysia Ashford herself." He kept himself from letting out a chuckle as he could tell Sayoko's head involuntarily snapped to look at him. He pictured the shocked look on her face, and this time he did laugh. This was followed by a small smacking sound, and a feminine "Ow!". _"Must have been Jeremiah."_, he thought in amusement.

"By the way, Suzaku. Have the maids taken your measurements yet?" He had to ask this eventually. The Emperor and the Knight of Zero needed to possess appropriate garments after all.

"Y-yes, they have." Rising an eyebrow at this, he turned to look towards his Japanese friend, and found him blushing slightly. He sighed. "Honestly Suzaku. Didn't you ever go the full way with Euphie?"

"M-my Emperor!" Were the scandalized replies of the three people before him. These people amused him to no end. By now, Suzaku's face was as red as a tomatoe's.

"You should get your mind out of the gutter Suzaku. If you don't, your mind will probably overload because of the amount of hetero running through it. At least it proves your not out for Lelouch."

"WHAT?!?!" Dual indignant shouts from dually indignant people. Cursing C.C., the two took a moment to sulk about their wounded male pride. Jeremiah sputtered incoherently at the notion, Sayoko turned red out of embarrassment, and the Gray Witch just laughed at them all. All the while, the Emperor and the Knight sulked.

A knock at the door distracted them. "Who is it?" Asked Jeremiah.

"Please forgive me my lord. I come here to take my Emperor's measurements for his royal garments." Was the submissive and quiet reply. Turning to Lelouch, he received a nod. Giving one of understanding as reply, he opened the door for the maid, and wordlessly left, followed by Suzaku and Sayoko. The maid stepped in after they left, and bowed. Out of the corner of his eye, Lelouch noticed C.C. sitting on his bed, staring at him. He saw that the maid noticed her presence as well. He told her to raise, and proceeded to stand on the small marble pedestal a couple of feet away from the dresser.

It was wordless ordeal as the maid took Lelouch's measurements, and even then, he noticed a barely concealed blush on her cheeks. Lelouch smirked, a smirk which only grew smugger as he noticed her blush deepen. He also noticed C.C. giving him an amused look. Oh if only…

When she finished, the maid stepped away and bowed. "What colors would you like the garment to possess, milord?" Considering her question, he responded. "Normally, I'd say to go with purple and black, mainly, but since I _am_ the Emperor of the Holy Empire of Britannia, have the main color be white instead. For secondary colors, purple, gold, red and green should do."

She nodded, still in her bow, "As you command, Your Majesty. We'll make sure that your attire will be befitting of someone of your stature. By your leave, sire." Giving her the go-ahead, she turned and left.

"My my, I believed you enjoyed that a bit _too _much. Finally giving in to your body's urges?" Again with the rhetoric questions. She should know by now that when he wanted, he could be every bit a tease as she. He just did not usually indulge himself to the level C.C. did.

Annoyed, he waved her off "Oh away with you, witch." A pause. He was suddenly reminded of the strange dream he had…Where he supposedly met his father, who babbled about some "link" or whatever, before being knocked out by _something __**huge**__, _then waking up to his vassals' prank.

_If only dear Lulu would realize, much to his horror, that the dream he had, was in actuality, not just a mere dream…_

Getting a rather serious expression on her face, she asked what she knew he would ask… Or, to be precise, she asked what she _thought_ he would ask, "What did Charles tell you?"

_Oh my. It appears C.C. beat me to the punch._

"Eh?" With an uncharacteristic confused innocence, he looked at her in wonder. C.C. realized then, that he probably did not actually believe he saw truly saw Charles… Or maybe Charles did not even appear yet! With a sinking feeling, she realized all too late her mistake… And made the error of confirming Lelouch's suspicions, because…

"…Oh shit."

_She was hiding something from him._ Something involving his father, and anything involving his father in the present was **never** good. But just as he was about to begin a rant about how she should not hide anything about his father to him anymore, and how he was going to demand she tell him everything, and how he would personally make sure she never got so much as a whiff of pizza _**ever again**__, _he was interrupted, once again, by a convenient knock on the door. Annoyed, he growled to whoever was behind that door to show their face.

A guard timidly stepped into the room, shaking for all he was worth under the Emperor's piercing glare. He began his report, knowing that the Emperor would not tolerate his existence if he stuttered too much, because it was clear as day that the Emperor _was not in a good mood_!

_Oh Lelouch. Sorry, but it'll take a while before you get all the answers. On the meantime, __**the new recruit stood before the imposing Demon, perfectly aware that he would not be afforded a second chance. Even so, he persevered, and would be spared because of it…**_

"M-my lord, w-we've received a r-report that one of the patrols found t-the unconscious form of one Knight of Six, Anya Aelstreim..."

Fortunately for him, and for C.C., this instantly caught the Emperor's attention. "What?! How in the world did that girl get here?!"

"I-I do not know, milord. She was found not too long after the Knight of Zero brought you and the green-haired woman inside. She's still unconscious, but has shown signs of waking up soon. T-the doctors found it necessary to inform you, so…"

"…I understand. How heavy is the guard watching over her right now?"

"Six men strong, milord."

"Hmm… She is only one, young girl, but she's a Knight of the Round regardless. We can't take too many risks. Double the amount guards placed on her, and notify me immediately the moment she awakens. I wish to have a word privately with her later." His face was serious. Deathly serious. One of the Rounds, here, in his palace. If he could get her to fight for him, that would not only mean a valuable ally, but also a valuable ally **safely out of Schneizel's hands**.

Remembering one important detail, he asked a final question of the man, "Was the Mordred anywhere nearby her position?" This was important. The Mordred was one of the key reasons Anya would prove immensely useful.

The guard seemed to become nervous again, "Uh… well… The Mordred was not in the general vicinity of where the Knight of Six was found… But we have unconfirmed reports that the crew manning your personal jet found an unknown Knightmare Frame amidst their cargo. We've dispatched a unit to confirm those news."

At that, he allowed a curious expression to settle on his face._"Hmph. Unknown Knightmare Frame? Hopefully it is the Mordred. Can't do anything about that. I'll just have to wait and hope for the best…"_

"Very well. Go relay my order, and then return to your duties."

Saluting, he stood up straighter, "Yes, Your Majesty!", before bowing, and leaving when Lelouch dismissed him with a wave of his hand.

"Hmm, this should prove interesting indeed…" With the same curios expression he turned to look towards the moon once again. C.C.'s previous comment had completely slipped from his mind in spite of himself, something she noticed instantly, and was grateful for.

"_Ooohhh, saved by a frog's hair, weren't you C.C.-chan?!"_

With an annoyed expression, she started the second mental conversation of the day. _"__**Now**__ you appear again, after not only momentarily overcoming my conscious, but taking hold of my body and committing suicide with it, without asking. You've grown inconsiderate, Marianne. Don't think I've missed it either; the sudden appearance of the Knight of Six has your name written all over it."_

She could already picture the sheepish expression Marianne would have on her face, had she actually had one, _"Yeah, well, about that… Heeheheheehee! Sorry! I kind of lost my temper back then. If it makes you feel any better, taking over your body, if even for eight minutes, placed a lot of strain on my mind. Then, when I managed to take over Anya, and got her to sneak the Mordred into my son's jet, I almost fainted. I managed to hang on long enough to get her near the palace though. After that, __**he**__ did the rest." _

Who? _"__**He**__? Who's __**he**__?"_

"_It's best you don't know C.C. We don't need you losing consciousness now, especially when you almost were forced to reveal me to Lelouch before Charles got around to getting it done and over with."_

_  
_Deciding she'd rather not know, she simply settled to watch Lelouch from where she lied on his bed. Silence was broken only by Marianne's amused giggles, which only C.C. could hear, and who coincidentally snapped at her to shut up occasionally, and by the howl of the wind.

**LO**** AND BEHOLD! 1****ST ****POLL WINNER!**

With a groan, a certain pink-haired girl awoke from her sleep. It took her a minute for her eyes to adapt to the light, and then take in the unfamiliar surroundings. Where was she? Last time she remembered, she had been on the carrier Prince Schneizel had been occupying, alongside herself, Gino, and a number of technicians and soldiers. She had been on her quarters, updating her blog… She thought. Taking her phone out and checking her blog, she found _another _of those unfamiliar personal entries.

"_Dear Anya_

_When you read this, you'll probably be in the medical ward of the Imperial Palace of Pendragon. The Emperor will likely have doubled the guard placed on you, and will also try to talk you into serving him. Trust him. He knows how to make you regain all your lost memories. But you must be prepared, for they also hold the truth to my assassination, and you may not like what you will see. Oh well._

_With love, Late Empress Marianne Vi Britannia."_

With a start, she looked incredulously at the name on her phone. The Empress? B-but she died! She died, didn't she? She could still vividly remember that horrible day. She remembered how kind the woman was as she personally tutored her in the proper ways of etiquette. She remembered how she, one night, interrupted their last lessons as she was summoned by someone else to the Aries entrance hall. She remembered how she, in her curiosity, she disobeyed the Empress and discreetly followed after her. And then…

Blank…

She could remember nothing after that. She would wake up in the medical ward, and be informed of her tutor's death. And after that, she would throw the rest of her life away by continuously training her skills as a Knightmare pilot, in order to honor the late Empress, by becoming a Knight of the Round. And all along the way, she would suffer from continuous blanks in her memories, and diary and blog entries not her own.

But this… This was beyond anything so far. She did not know what to think about the supposed Empress's entry. But she did know what to think about the Emperor. She would trust him, just like the message said. She had always tried to find a "cure" to her problem, always tried to determine what was wrong with her. But the doctors did not know what to think. Some alluded to Chronic Memory Loss, but hers seemed to be much more selective and less occasional than the cases of those kinds of people, so it was eventually discarded.

But if what the message said was true… If the Emperor could restore her mind… She would be indebted for life to him. She had no other choice. She was desperate, she knew, but it was either this, or suffer for the rest of her life.

At this point, a guard had noticed she had woken up, and was approaching her. She turned her blank expression to regard him, which seemed to unnerve the man. Regardless, he motioned for one of his companions to come over, and engaged in a small exchange of whispers. The other man nodded, before leaving the room and going away from the ward, probably to look for the Emperor. The original man came next to her bed and spoke.

"Knight of Six, Anya Aelstreim. You have been found guilty of the crime of desertion. By refusing to come to His Majesty's side as soon as he was crowned, you lost your honor and the respect you commanded. Thus, you're title as Knight has officially been removed." At this, her eyes widened, and horror settled in. Her title had been removed?! But—!

But the man continued, "However, in spite of the protests, the Emperor has chosen to be lenient with you. Emperor Lelouch has decided to give you another chance. Right now, as we speak, the Emperor is being hailed by one of my comrades. In no more than a matter of minutes, my lord will personally question you, accompanied by his most loyal vassals. Should you answers be satisfactory, you're title shall be restored, and you will be given the opportunity to serve the Empire in glory once again." Finishing, he turned around and returned to his post, at the door.

The Emperor was giving her a chance? Anya looked down at her lap. If she did not want to dishonor the Empress, she would have to comply with all of his demands. But if she did, she would dishonor herself as a Knight by betraying the Prince and her fellow Knight, Gino. But if she didn't, she would never recover her memories…

_**But as Anya continued pondering her dilemma, she was unaware that the decision was out of her hands long before she awoke. The Emperor, his mother, their accomplice and his servant would make sure of that. **_

_**But like any servant of Britannia, her services to the crown had been exemplary, and thus, she would be shown leniency. Her future was at a crossroads now, and the road chosen would drastically change the future of the world…**_

**LO AND BEHOLD! THE DEVILISH LAUGHTER!**

Milly would have laughed. She honestly would have laughed a devilish one. But she still remembered the unpleasant coughing episode she suffered in her home. Thus, she was currently residing in an expensive hotel suite in Pendragon, with Rivalz getting a less luxurious but nonetheless lavish room in a lower floor. As soon as they arrived, the chauffer had driven them to this hotel as per the Emperor's instructions, and escorted them to the counter to inquire upon their booked lodgings. According to him, they would stay here for the night, before having their belongings and persons moved to more comfortable and appropriate lodgings at the Royal Palace. Thus, neither of them had unpacked anything.

She was now busying herself by thinking up some of the finer details of her plans. There were still may kinks she would have to work out later, but many were because she would need a better logistics report, and as to how big was to be the festival. Not to mention that these plans would have to go through the Emperor's approval first before being carried out. She may be the second most powerful woman in the Empire as of now, but the Emperor was in a different category altogether. There was not anything she could (or would) do to overpower his will, for that would cause the world to call her an usurper, and the Empire would be screaming for her blood in a heartbeat.

Still, this was a once in a lifetime opportunity. She not only would have the chance to make sure her name (and the Ashford name) would go down the annals of Britannian history. She would finally have a chance to confess to **him**. This St. Valentine's, she would steel herself, arm herself with courage, and let those words she'd been repressing all these years to flow from her mouth. But she'd have to make sure only **he** heard them.

"_Lelouch…"_

…Were her whispers of adoration…

_**Would her prayers be answered? Would her feelings find compliance? Or would her heart be broken? Only time would tell…**_

**LO AND BEHOLD! THE RED LOTUS!**

Kallen Kouzuki was confused. She was confused as hell. Ever since that fateful night, when the Black Knights betrayed their only leader, Zero, her life consisted of confusion, anger and mistrust. Anger, because of what they had done. Mistrust, because, if they were capable of betraying the person who was responsible for the entire existence of the Black Knights, then who's to say they wouldn't do the same to the U.F.N. once they grew strong enough? And finally, confusion. When Lelouch called them all, especially her, a pawn, she could feel her heart break. She could feel the tears gather at her eyes, and feel the respect she had for him die. But when she was about to leave him to his fate, he whispered those words, and everything changed.

"_Kallen…You must live on…"_

Had he not uttered that whisper, she would have hated him for the rest of her life. As it stood, the moment she comprehended the words, words she was sure only _she_ heard, Rolo had taken matters into his own hands, and Lelouch was taken away.

She did not know what to think. Was she to hate him for using them all? Was she to pity him for the life which was given to him, which led him to do this? Was she to thank him, for giving them this much? Was she to adore him, for doing the impossible? Or…

Was she to love him, for doing the impossible, freeing her country, teaching them to _believe_ once again, for leading them to victory one-too many times, for proving to her that he was capable of compassion, of friendship, of love?

Those questions would haunt her, and would continue to do so until laid to rest. The only person who could do that was half a world away. Unless she found a way to sneak to Britannia without being noticed, she would never be able to know.

A knock at the door distracted her, and she urged for the person to come in. She checked herself, and was pleased to be presentable, especially considering who was behind the door.

"Uhhh… Kallen? Can I talk with you for a while…?" The person who's head sneaked around the door was female, and black haired. Judging by the voice, she was young. She was dressed in a combination of white and red; an attire reminiscing of a miko. She was Kaguya Sumeragi, Chairwoman and Representative of the U.F.N.

Kallen was surprised, but spoke regardless, "L-Lady Kaguya! O-Of course, please come in!" Kallen internally frowned at herself. Why was she stuttering? It seems recent evens shook her up more than she thought they had.

When they were both properly seated, an uncomfortable silence took over the room. Kallen was looking at anywhere _but _at Kaguya, and the black haired girl was looking at her feet. "_This is awkward"_, Kallen thought in unease, _"What could Lady Kaguya possibly want from me? She should know that I'm currently out of the loop, per see."_ Thankfully, she was not the one to break the monotone.

"How was he?" She was still looking at her feet, but her tone of voice was low. That whisper was so low; she thought she may have imagined it. But she knew better, so Kallen answered.

"Zero…? Welll…"

"I see…"

Inwardly cursing at herself, silence once again took over… "Ohgi told me everything." Well, so much for that. _"Damn it Ohgi! There was no need to bring Lady Kaguya into this!"_ But she knew better. From a professional point of view, it was only natural to report to someone as important as this young woman about the coup. But from _any_ other point of view, it was wrong. Kaguya deeply admired Zero—nay, she _loved _him. And she understood what that meant; she loved the idea of Zero, she loved the persona that was Zero, she loved the person _behind_ the Mask of Zero, regardless of who it was. It was true love in the purest sense, and Kallen could only imagine the suffering Kaguya was going through, when she sat here wallowing in self-pity about whether or not Zero simply _cared_ for her. She cursed herself again.

"…It hurt a bit, to know Zero said those words. But that was _so_ much like Lulu." A giggle was the last thing Kallen expected from Kaguya at this moment, but a giggle she got. Moreover, _Lulu_?! Last time she checked, the only people to ever call Lelouch that were Milly, Shirley and Nunally, God bless the latter two's souls. Needless to say, Kallen was confused as hell, and it must have shown because when Kaguya got a glimpse of her face, she broke into a fit of giggles. She tried to frown; she really did. But that laughter was infectious, and it was exactly what the both of them needed.

After calming down after a few minutes, she asked. "Lulu? Since when were you so familiar with Lelouch?" It occurred to her only too late that she let out his name, but given the lack of surprise, she summarized Ohgi told her _everything_.

"…Perhaps I should tell you some things. Lulu was the Eleventh Prince of Britannia, at the time. He and Nunnally used to live happily and in tranquility with their mother and some of their siblings in the Aries Palace, a Palace I was told, possessed a garden of unmatched beauty. But one day, their mother was murdered in front of her children."

"_What?!_ Why?!" Kallen was shocked. Understandable, given that she did not know anything about Lelouch's princely past. You see…

When the Black Rebellion failed, and the remnants of the Black Knights gathered under Kosetsu Urabe, the only Shisei-Ken to evade capture, alongside C.C. and herself, C.C. revealed to those gathered the identity of Zero, and why he formed the Black Knights. As in, she told them that Zero, was in actuality, Lelouch Lamperouge, a Britannian schoolboy with the intellect to rival Schneizel el Britannia, and had formed this rebellion in order to overthrow Britannia's Social Darwinism, so that his beloved, crippled sister, crippled by Britannia itself, and all those suffering under it (the Numbers) would be spared. Nothing about their being royalty. Of those people, only Kallen remained. C.C. never told her anything about their past, and she only learned their origins recently. Plus Geass.

Expression grim, Kaguya diverged to explain, "Their mother, Marianne Lamperouge, was a commoner by birth. However, she showed exemplary skills as a Knightmare pilot, earning the name "_Marianne the Flash_", and becoming the Knight of One before Bismarck Waldstein. The last Emperor married her, much to the shock of many. Because of her commoner birth, she earned the scorn of the other Empresses, as she was decidedly the favorite among the Consorts. She was assassinated in cold blood. Lelouch took the time to explain this to me once. More on that later."

"Anyways, Nunnally was only hit in the legs, given that the Empress took the brunt of the bullets for her, but that was enough to cripple her. The mental trauma from this event is what caused her blindness. Lelouch was unharmed, physically. However, he was mentally scarred because of the sigh of his sister and his mother, covered in blood, lying in the floor. I was this and his grief that caused him to go before the Emperor, three days later, to demand that the investigations of his mother's murder be continued, which had been passed off as a terrorist attack. He renounced his title when the Emperor remained impassive, and he and Nunnally were sent to Japan as bargaining chips."

Taking a deep breath, she finished to the horrified Kallen. "They were put under the care of the Kururugi household, which is how he and Suzaku eventually became best friends, and how I met him. Britannia invaded, and they were disregarded as casualties of war. The rest is history."

"I see… I did not know he went through that much. I guess he could relate to us, in the sense that he knows how it feels to be stripped of your name." Kallen felt pity once again, but shook herself. Pity was the last thing Lelouch would want, she knew.

Another giggle escaped Kaguya's lips, "Even back then, I fawned all over him. Nunnally and I used to bicker about who would marry him, much to Lelouch and Suzaku's horror, and to the amusement of anyone else present. She told me how she used to do the same with their half-sibling, Euphemia Li Britannia."

Kallen was startled at the name, but remembered the truth about that massacre. "Euphemia the Massacre Princess…? No, that was because—"

"Of Lelouch's Geass." Kallen wasn't so surprised now. Kaguya continued without interruption. "His Geass, the power of Absolute Order, to command anyone to do his will… That was the power he used to make Euphemia massacre the Japanese, and ruin the plan of the Special Administrative Zone of Japan. With the murder of his sister, he was able to spur the Japanese to rebel as one, and nearly succeeded in retaking Japan. And yet, I can't help but feel that something about that time came off as an… _accident._"

Kallen nodded, having entertained the same suspicions after the failed rebellion, "But it was because of that same Geass that made the Black Knights betray Zero. He's proven that he can use his own allies as pawns. Even I am not sure if my loyalty to him is real…" She sounded unsure of her own self. She wanted to believe she truly wanted to be with him, but the knowledge of his Geass impaired her.

For her part, Kaguya smiled, "It's real." "Eh?" What did she say?

A smirk now, "You are loyal to him because you want to be. Your loyalty is yours alone. Think about it; if you were to be loyal to him because of the Geass, you wouldn't be questioning that. From what I've seen, you'd be singing odes to him if you were." She ended in a merry tone. Kallen allowed herself to blush.

"Even so, I still want to hear it from his mouth… But he's half the world away, and now is the Emperor. There's no way to reach him now."

A sneaky expression got on the Chairwoman's face, and her tone turned to one of conspiration, "Not necessarily…" Perking up, the red-head turned a hopeful look to her.

"Think, Kallen. What day is it in one week?" One week? St. Valentine's Day, said her mind after a couple of seconds. Why would sh—!

"Ooohh!" Kaguya smiled at seeing understanding dawn on Kallen's face. "The St. Valentine's Festival! But how…?"

"The Britannians weren't exactly subtle about their advertisements. If you would check the settlement, you would see numerous alluding to a festival which coincides with St. Valentine's date. Apparently, it also states that any nobles that are capable of leaving their duties return to the mainland for the celebrations. If I'm not mistaken, you are the heir to a noble title, are you not?"

The scheme quickly took form in her mind, and the ace pilot found herself filled with hope. "Yes, that's right. While I prefer go by Kouzuki, which is my birth name, I am half-Britannian by birth. Thus, I'm also heir to the name Stadtfeld… That means that I will be expected to attend the festivities, even though Lelouch knows of this and will likely expect my presence."

"That doesn't matter! Look, are you in with me or not?!" Kallen thought, long and hard, and spoke…

**"Yes."**

_**And so, the princess and the red lotus discussed their plants in private. Their actions would prove to further the Emperor's cause, as the focal point of the act that would change the world was to be Britannia, in it's following weeks… Five girls, each contributing to the ultimate act of sacrifice for peace…**_

**

* * *

**

A.N.: *In hiding* That's that. It's certainly longer than my last chapter. In fact, ever since I started writing, my chapters have gotten progresively bigger. Hopefully, I will eventually be able to match those genius writers who can dish out tens of thousands of words in a single day, whereas I sometimes struggle to get over 5k per day. So what did you think? Please Review! No flames! Constructive criticism=appreciation!

**Note: Though I wonder if perhaps I'm taking my plot a little too slowly...**


	4. Forging of the Pacts

**A.N.: Flame Ice here. Sorry, I'm baking a cake, so I can't take too long here! Had a problem with the Document Upload, so I was unable to post! I'm giving special mention to Lost-Chan (Somebodylost) for a) Pseudo-beta-ing one of my works and b) Being such an awesome friend that she helped me fend the boredom away (in a good way). Thanks Lost-chan!**

**Btw: **"This is normal talking"

**These are normally foreshadowings. _These two styles may sometimes interchange roles (this (b+i) is special)._**

_These are thoughts._

**- Lastly, these are my own Author inputs as a pseudo-deity talking. -**

**WARNINGS: Occasional language, alcohol and suggestive themes (which encourage the imaginations of yuri fans) from a certain black-haired Empress.**

**Disclaimer: I DO NOT OWN CODE GEASS. ONLY THIS STORY, ITS PLOT AND ANY OCS I MAY CREATE TO HELP MOVE THE STORY ALONG.**

*******EDIT!*****: It wasn't obvious thanks to me, and so I'm saying it now; the scenes concerning the members of the Black Knights all take place in a time hours before the scenes concerning the Britannians. I know I've left many waiting, so I'm also announcing this; the fifth chapter is being written as you probably read this. I should have gotten around to doing this two days before, but I haven't been feeling well, especially today, but I'm still writing. However, it seems to be killing some of my creativity, so don't expect the next chapter to be bigger than the previous ones. I'll try, but I can't promise anything! As a last note, the chapter will focus mostly on Kallen and Kaguya. Readers will know what I'm talking about.**

* * *

_**...Gather around my friends, and hear the tales of woe, of those who helped shape our world...**_

**_...For each founder had a tale of their own, so each founder had woes of their own..._**

**_...Let us resume the tale, with the main character once more..._**

**_...And So, There Was The Beggining Of An Union..._**

* * *

Not even turning to look towards the door, the raven-haired man asked, "Who was it?".

"You'll love this; it was one of the guards placed to watch Anya. She's woken up."

The woman smirked as the answer had the expected effect, as almost instantly, the Emperor turned to her, and with barely a motion of his hand, signaling her to follow, was already out of the room and a dozen steps into the hallway, leaving flustered guards and some stray maids to bow hurriedly at him. Rolling her eyes at the display, she went after him, eventually reaching his side as the guard that had come from earlier was trying to balance the tasks of keeping up with them and giving a coherent report. She shook her head, forlornly.

"_Give him just a little treat, and he'll gobble it all up before you can even blink. He's like a child!" _Amused words coming from a disembodied female voice could give a scare to anybody. But C.C. wasn't just **anybody**. Not in the mood for more chit-chat, she strove to "kill".

"_A child?__ Are you seriously comparing you're little monster of a genius son to a mere __**child**__? Are you freaking kidding me woman?! I'd say he's more comparable to a massive pod of genetically augmented piranhas! ...With gold teeth." _Pausing for one last remark, she found it, _"…And a Cheese-Kun motif."_

She congratulated herself for not cracking a victorious smile, as uncontrolled laughter promptly resonated throughout her mind. That takes care of her for a few minutes. Nodding in satisfaction, she wasn't so surprised to find the three of them already before the door to Anya's med. Ward room, with various soldiers kneeling, heads bowed to the floor, before the presence of their Emperor.

She heard the mental sighs of relief as Marianne "got her breath back"—how she did that (or would even need to do that) without an actual body was lost on her. With small nagging curiosity, she asked, _"So how does the great Marianne the Flash suppose the following conversation will go?"_

Giving a nonchalant sigh, Marianne responded,_ "Oh I don't know. Methinks the first order of business will be to lure her in with his own promise to restore her memory. Probably get Jeremiah to __do it. Of course, he'd have to get her to agree to a deal first; you'd be surprised how sneaky that girl can be… Or used to be—dunno how much the presence of little 'ol me messed up her brain." _

_  
__"…He's __**definitely**__ not the only child in the Lamperouge line." _Wrong words C.C.

"_Oh quiet you! We of the Lamperouge name have a long, now forgotten, history as feisty people! How do you think the Lamperouge and Ashfords are in such good terms?! It runs on our blood! …Though Lelouch got the short end of the stick in that regard. Though Nunally used to be __**just**__ like me when I was her age! Oooh, if she had the chance to stay that way all the way to her puberty, Lelouch would have had __**hell**__ keeping her under control! A rebel like her mother! OMG, makes me so happy to think about it…!" _An excited, out of control, and most of all, _distracted_ Marianne was an extremely dangerous thing. Poor C.C. forgot that, and now she would be forced to hear her rant on and on and on.

"_Damn it! How could I let her get __**bored**__?! Shit, she's switching between moods faster than me that time I ate pizza after a failed month-long fasting resolution! And wait, Nunally? __**Rebellious?!**__ Somehow, my mind can picture that, and I find it extremely disturbing; one Marianne is enough! And __**OMG**__? More like __**OMFG! Marianne, you've been messing around with Anya's blog way too much!!**"_And crazed laughter was all the poor witch got, and it drove her up the wall, drove her faster and harder than that time Marianne got a little too physical and it lead to—

"_NOOO! Bad thoughts, bad thoughts! Bad C.C., bad! Oh god, someone kill that thought with fire!" _Blushing a bright red, she only earned the weirded out looks of the surrounding people, who fled the scene at top speed when Lelouch, annoyed, snapped at them to set up the perimeter, and for someone to go get Jeremiah. Giving her a glare, he reached for the door's handle and turned it.

But as they prepared to enter the room, Marianne slipped in one last remark, and it was only by the Author's mercy that the green-haired woman did not faint from blood loss at the memory spurred from Marianne's comment, _"Oh come __**on**__, __**koi**__. It wasn't __**that**__ bad, was it? Sure, you struggled a bit at first, but five minutes in, and you already were writhing against me as my hands moved all over that __**sexy, small and lithe**__ body of yours. Oh, I can vividly remember as you moaned out my name, when my fingers found that __**little**__ spot just above your—!"_

**- ****…Let's just cut off her perverted reminiscence here before she jacks the rating up to M… And did I mention that C.C. was getting turned on? …Oh, I just did…? -**

**- ****…You know what, shutting up now. -**

* * *

…_**And Then There Was An Unsealing… **_

Turning her pink head towards the door, Anya Aelstreim prepared to receive a visit from the current Emperor, 99th Emperor Lelouch Vi Briannia—son of her late etiquette tutor, apparent acquaintance from a forgotten childhood, former fellow member of the Student Council from Ashford Academy and the man who knew how to restore her memories. The man who held the key to end her suffering… And so as the door opened, her surprise was understandable when she was treated to the sight of a Britannian schoolboy, and a green-haired woman in a white and black outfit. _This_ was the new Emperor? Somehow, she expected a bit more…

Catching her look, the already annoyed expression of the man turned even nastier, as he remarked, "You know, it is not a good idea to antagonize the ruler of an Empire spanning well over a third of the globe. I can tell by just the flexion of your face that you're not impressed, and honestly, I don't blame you; I've just gotten my measurements taken. So this school outfit I first donned and a robe are all I can take for now. But what you see is what you get, and so I present myself to you. I am Lelouch Vi Britannia, 99th Emperor of the Holy Britannian Empire." With a flamboyant bow, he then motioned to the woman who entered with him—who she just realized, looked like she was off dreaming about something, something **good**, what with that lost look and heavy blush in her face.

"And the lime-haired witch over here is C.C. She is my advisor, and will mediate between us while we wait for one of my associates to get here. Now, on to business."

Taking a seat on the comfortable chair prepared for him in front of the girl's bed, he settled on it, just as the woman—C.C.—snapped to attention, and went to sit on a chair beside the Emperor's. The two parties spent a few moments contemplating each other, before the Emperor chose that moment to finally voice aloud his desire.

"Miss Aelstreim, I believe that you have been informed of the removal of yours status as Knight of the Round?" Not even waiting for an answer, he continued; "Of course you have. And of course, it is also your desire to recover it, so as to make sure your years of tireless service to the Crown as a Knight of the Round are not in vain. Otherwise, my mother would be sorely disappointed in you. Or so you believe." Smirking when the tiniest hint of a frown, and dull surprise appeared on the girl's face, he rose from his sitting position to pace towards the window.

"I believe it's easy to know why I'm saying all this; you know what I want, I know what you want, and we both know that the other is aware of this. I want you to serve me, Emperor Lelouch Vi Britannia, as a loyal Knight of the Crown. In return, your status as Knight of the Round shall be returned. In fact, I'll be generous; I shall even raise your rank if you so desire." He did not even need to see her face he had caught her attention. Smirking, he waited for her reply.

Frowning, the usually deadpan expression on her face replaced with indecision, she bit her lip. She was not sure how to proceed… _"Tell him your problem."_ Eh? What was that? _"Tell him you can't remember things very well. Ask him to help you."_ But… _"Do it child. Trust in me…"_ That voice… It sounded so much like the Empress's…Warm and caring, but playful...

Face calming, she reached a decision. _"Very well. I trust in you."_

"I shall agree to those terms…" Grinning in victory, he began to turn around. "Excellent! Then—" But he was cut off. "On one condition."

Stopping himself, he frowned. Condition? What else could she possibly want?

"_This better ought to be good, or I'm placing a Geass on her." __**"Wouldn't do that if I were you, son." **__"Wha—?!_

But before he could elaborate on that voice, she continued. Snapping to attention, he refocused on reality. Uninterrupted, Anya continued. "I want you to help me remember."

Remember what? Voicing aloud those doubts, he watched as the girl seemed to struggle with herself as she debated whether or not to truly confide in him her problems. But the voice speaking to her seemed resolute, and so she was eventually forced to comply. She didn't have anything to lose either. This was all she had left. But the pressure of the whole situation was getting to her, now when she was at her most vulnerable state. She was caving in.

Not looking at the Emperor, her eyes looked to the side, and her expression turned sad, "…Ever since_ that day_, nine years ago… Ever since that day, when the Empress was killed… And from then to this very day, I've continued to suffer from blanks in my memory. Sometimes the world goes red, and I wake up back in my room, or in a garden, with no recollection of what I did; I also find that a substantial amount of time had past since I lost awareness, and that I can't remember anything from that time... Sometimes, I simply go various days without even knowing what I'm doing, and when I stop to check, I find I can't remember how much time passed, so I have to ask someone like Gino or another Knight of the Round... Sometimes, I check my blog, and find entries and photos I don't ever remember writing or taking… And sometimes, I take out that diary I don't remember ever having, and find entries in a hand-writing that is not my own… Yet, the diary has my name on it, and only I know where it is…"

She kept on, not realizing she had the complete attention of both a now mellower Emperor, and a calm C.C. She didn't even notice how her body had begun to shake, and unconsciously hugged herself. Tears had begun to gather at her eyes, and where beginning to slowly spill forth. "…I can't remember so many things… I hate it… I hate how my memory goes blank so much… I hate it how I can hardly recall the happiest moments of my life… I hate it how everyone can so easily think back to a time where they simply enjoyed a good time with friends, yet no matter how much I try, I think and think, but I … I…" Her head bowed, the tears flowed without restraint. She was truly miserable. Never had she felt so much sadness before…

…_**I can't…!**_

…And so much unlike herself, she burst out into sobs. She had dwelt on such things, on how she was different, on how others did not have her problems. She always felt this same, negative feelings… Anger, sadness, grief… But always, something happened that made her focus on other things, or she would start to lose awareness of herself, which would lead to more blanks in her memory. She had learnt how to stop herself from thinking on it, but it was always nagging her, in the deep reaches of the back of her mind.

But now that this may be it, that her suffering could end, she **had** to. She had to think of her problems, of her sadness, of her causes of anger and grief, of jealousy at the happiness of others. She had to, or else she wouldn't be able to move on… So she let it out…

C.C. knew all of this, having spoken with Marianne all throughout the darkest moments of Anya's life. Thus, she pitied her. She knew that this girl wouldn't last long with all those worries bottled up. But if their plan was to work, it would not be her who would have to comfort her. But just as she was about to give Lelouch "The Look", the one that could force any man to do as a woman bids, she found it not necessary; Lelouch was already at Anya's side, and in an uncharacteristic show of sympathy, wrapped an arm around Anya's shoulders, allowed her to cry into his chest, gently stroking her back and whispering softly into her ear. Slightly raising an eyebrow, she followed his example, enveloping them both in an embrace as well.

Through their combined efforts, Anya managed to calm down. She notably looked… happier, as to say. Smiling just a little, she looked away again. "…Thank you…" That felt better. Getting it out helped her mood… But the matter was not yet resolved.

No longer smirking, but just smiling, he spoke, "It is nothing. I… used to do the same, for my little sister, whenever she had nightmares… Once…" Fighting with himself to not grieve for her again, he refocused. "…Regardless, that _does _pose a problem. However…" And remembering _that_ day again, when he ended the Ragnarok Connection, he found the solution. Anya perked up, looking hopeful. "…I believe I have the answer."

Looking sideways to C.C., he met the witch's gaze, and received a nod. Nodding back he motioned for her to go to the door. The green-haired woman did, and opening it, she found a solemn looking Jeremiah standing behind it. Stepping aside without a word, the man entered and bowed to the girl on the bed, before kneeling before his lord.

Anya did not understand. What did this man have to do with her situation? And so, the voice spoke up again. _"He's the answer, Anya. Loyal only to Lelouch, he can remove the Geass on you, which will unlock your memories. But only at Lelouch's command."_

Frowning, she let out that word without meaning to. "…Geass…?" It was only a split second later that she realized all three of the people in the room had now focused their gazes on her, and so she knew she had to explain, "A voice in my head mentioned something like that… A voice I've only heard recently. But what is "Geass"?"

The Emperor waved her off, instead motioning for the man—Jeremiah—to stand. "We shall explain later. But, our pact is sealed then? This man holds the power to unlock your memories. At my command, he will restore them. In exchange for that, and your reinstitution as a Knight, will you serve me, and only me, Lelouch Vi Britannia, 99th Emperor of the Holy Britannian Empire?"

"Yes." The response was immediate. There was no hesitation. This would be it.

But he had to make sure, "…Even if what you will see, what you will learn, may be more than what you can stomach? Even if your beliefs are utterly shattered? Even if your purpose in life may have been a waste of it? Can you still go through with it, knowing that?"

"Yes I will." And again, she remained resolute. She had been waiting for too long. She WILL get her answers, finally after so many years.

Nodding, serious, he pat Jeremiah on the back and the man rose, raising a hand to the side of his head. But before he took action, the Emperor spoke one last time.

"**Well said! Face your past demons, conquer your present grief, and claim your brilliant future! Jeremiah!"**

Nodding, the blue-haired man opened up the eye-hatch on the strange device covering that side of the man's face. "Geass Canceller!"

Anya saw the mismatching green eye of the man _light up_ slightly, before a strange blue sigil, reminiscing of an inverted bird, appear on the surface of the pupil. The bird _flew out_ of his eye, before entering hers, and a faint blue field expanded to envelop her bed.

_**And so, just like that, the Geass impairing the girl's memory and her mind was broken, and like a glass wall, the seal was shattered, allowing for a monstrous stream of memories, images and voices alike, to rush through her mind, taking their long-denied rightful places, and thoroughly storming the poor girl's mind without mercy. **_

_**And as Anya's mind began to attempt to cope with the massive influx of information, the storm left behind a sobbing girl on the mindscape, as she herself, was forced to cope with the truth of her tutor's death, and what that implied for her…**_

_**Outside of her mind and in the real word, Anya let out a small scream of pain as she clutched her head, allowing the alarmed Emperor to hold her again as she was forced to cope. It eventually proved too much, but by then, the pain had subsided quite a bit, and strangely, a small, almost invisible sigil similar to the bird that came out from Jeremiah's eye, appeared on the raven-haired man's hand. Unnoticed it went by the Emperor as he held the unconscious form of the Knight of Six, but ignored not for the Gray Witch…**_

**Would Anya be able to cope with nine years worth of memories? Will her mind succumb to the numbing pain of reality? Would her spirit be broken, to leave behind a shell, or would it hold fast, to leave her stronger than ever before? Only time would tell, and unknown to any of them, the destruction of Charles's Geass would unseal more than just her memories…**** -**

* * *

…_**And Then There Was Grievance… **_

With nary a flexion of the face, the capable and ever professional leader of the Shisei-Ken, Kyoshiro Tohdoh, walked down the hallway of the Black Knight's Flagship, the Ikaruga, leading to his quarters, his private little haven on this world filled with death and destruction. Garnering massive respect from all of his colleagues, he remained impassive in the face of the bows and salutes he received, continuing, taking it all in stride as he went. When he finally reached his quarters, he bent slightly over a pad in the wall next to the doorway, so as to cover it with his body as much as he could. Two Black Knights stepped to either side of him, giving him their backs; this whole thing was routine by now, and so these two helped him whenever they were around.

Acknowledging their presence with a nod, the general took a glance to either side of the hallway behind him. Seeing none of _them_ on any side as of the moment, he chose to put his right hand against the wall, next to the pad, open with the side of the pinky pressed against the wall, as if doing a chop at the wall. Lastly, with precise, practiced and swift moves, he input the 12 digit code to open the doorway, but not before he quickly swiped a card on the scanner on the side of the pad. As the door opened, it stopped halfway through. Tohdoh appeared to expect this, as he simply turned 90º to his right, and walked sideways into the room, the door closing as he entered. The two men, seeing their duty done, gave each other pats in the back before walking off in different directions, never once looking back…

And as this whole spectacle ended, various members of the Black Knights had massive sweatdrops, while another group, most notably composed of women, were all comically bent over in a corner of the hallway, heads barely peeking over from between their knees as they all in unison spun their right index fingers in idle circles on the metal floor. Were one to stand next to them, they would feel all their happiness drain away to be replaced with a bloating shroud of misery. Already some members were taking quite a few steps away from them, some with blank looks, others with boredom all over their faces and a few ones with a totally-weirded-out look.

If one bothered to look, one could spot Nagisa Chiba to be amongst "The Miserable". Her dark aura of misery was also notably bigger than the rest of the lot. Seeing this, many people sighed almost in unison.

Honestly, the lengths the general went to keep his fangirls away from his pants…

**- …Ok, so there wasn't grievance just **_**quite**_** yet. But you're getting it right NOW! -**

* * *

…_**And Then There Was REAL Grievance…**_

…And after all the daily shit the poor man (in his own opinion) could finally rest in peace in his domain. Here, he was alone. Here, he could think. Here, he could meditate. Here, he could repent. Here, he could laugh all he wanted at those fangirls out there (the room was soundproof). Here, he could do whatever he damn wanted to do. He could read a book. He could sleep! He could change in peace! He could watch porn! He could jack off if he was into that! In this room, he was GOD!

…Or so he liked to think as he was finally released from his duties for the day. He'd have to remember to increase those two men's pays. Again. They were always so helpful, assisting him in protecting his room's code from those raving fangirls, who wouldn't hesitate to charge him en masse and gang bang his poor self…. Or so the tired man liked to think to help amuse himself, if only just a bit. Amusement and good-natured intentions were scarce these days, ever since they were betrayed by their leader and the 99th Emperor took over. _"No, that's a bit wrong."_, he thought with a grimace,_ "Ever since __**we**__ betrayed Lelouch, and in response, he became Emperor. That's a bit better, if not entirely accurate."_

Letting out a tired sigh, Kyoshiro went to fetch himself a cup of his favorite sake, kept in secret stashes in multiple parts of his room. While he would normally drink with his fellow Shisei-Ken, that would no longer be, for only he and Nagisa were left. Thinking of his deceased comrades, the man allowed just the smallest hint of sadness to show through.

…_Kosetsu, sacrificing himself __in order to assure that Zero would live, for Japan and its hopes would forever live on as long as Zero did... _

_**("**__**Urabe Kosetsu, thanks to your efforts, Zero returned, and he led Japan to victory, just like he once did. Your death was not in vain.")**_

…_Ryoga, losing his life on a mission to kidnap the Viceroy, with whom they could bargain for the release of their enslaved nation…_

_**(**__**"Senba Ryoga, you bought us all valuable time in that dark time, where that battle went south because of the overwhelming threat of nothing less than **__**three**__** Knight's of the Round attacking at once. Once again, your experience saved us, friend. Your death was not in vain.")**_

…_Lastly, Shogo, who lost his life to the FLEIJA blast, the __horrendously powerful superweapon which nearly decimated the entirety of the Settlement… _

_**("Asahina Shogo, during that battle, you warned me that Zero could not be trusted. It was with your information and your death that I agreed to hear Schneizel out. While it may have been for the best, for Japan, I can't help but feel that Japan is now but a puppet for Schneizel's plans. Nonetheless, your death was not in vain.")**_

Shaking his head to clear the thoughts, he kept to his set task. His friends would have his head when he joined them in the afterlife, if they knew that he was reminiscing about them after they died. "Honor the dead, but let ghosts of the past rest in past times of glory, not of present times of shame." Ryoga said that once, and they all took it to heart.

…But with a pause, he realized he had called them all "friends". Letting out a sad chuckle, he seated himself on the mat floor and served himself. He did not take to calling them all friends so readily just yet, but now that they're almost all gone, he truly learned how much they meant to him. Acquaintances, teammates, compatriots, fellow war heroes, friends, family… That's what they all were to each other. Ever since Kyoshiro first took command of that company, he could tell that the 4 people who would eventually become his closest allies were all unique from all of the other soldiers, each in their own way. It was that uniqueness that made their achievements and deeds greater in his eyes, than those of the common soldier. And it was that same, shared ability, that incredible capability to carry out any order with exemplary effort and success, that led him to take the four and form a special unit, led by himself, as a Special Black Ops unit.

…And now, all but he and Nagisa were gone, and it was all because of their foolishness. If Japan had not gotten greedy with its status and new-found wealth of sakuradite, if they had not hanged the mineral over the other nations' heads just to watch them scuffle over who got the best trades for the sakuradite. Perhaps then, they might still have their Japan, they might still have been able to live peacefully, and most of all, they might not have lost so many loved ones.

But that was in the past, and so, general Kyoshiro was forced to focus on the most current happenings; even if not being able to properly mourn his friends was bad enough, now that they had gone and betrayed Zero, the Order of the Black Knights was now essentially in a state of jeopardy. While the absence of the genius mind of Zero was a tremendous blow to both their battle capacity and the troops' morale (seeing that only the higher ranked Knights, who were the ones who directly betrayed Zero, knew the truth), he could still be replaced with the combined efforts of Xingke and himself, not to mention support from Schneizel, a man who's mind was every bit a rival for Zero's. But in doing so, Japan would be no better than it was after Britannia invaded.

Let it be known that Kyoshiro Toudoh was no fool; rash at only the most extreme of times perhaps, but a fool he was not. Not long after Lelouch was taken away by Rolo, when a meeting was arranged between them in a few hours to better decide how to break the news of Zero's "death" to the Japanese, Kyoshiro sat in this room, in the exact same spot he was in, doing the same exact thing; reminisce about the past, and of his choices, and, after the rush of information regarding Lelouch was fully processed, he quickly realized just how _badly_ they **screwed up** by giving Zero to the White Prince.

Firstly, even if Japan and its citizens would be restored in name, that did not mean that they were essentially out of Britannia's clutches, much less out of harm's way. First and foremost, since they accepted his help in such a way, they would be naturally be expected to maintain a closer relation with Britannia, once the war was over. Because just as the Japanese were proud keepers of the code known as honor, they were also forced to it, lest they shame their selves, their families and their nation; they were now just another set of pawns for Britannia, and Kyoshiro did not trust in himself enough to go to war with Schneizel El Britannia with just Xingke and himself as strategists, when taking into account the sheer size and power of Britannia compared to the Order. Zero may have been able to pull it off, and that's counting in his seemingly limitless Geass power, but they had to go and let their emotions take control of themselves. That Schneizel would likely hold their already dishonorable act of mutiny over their heads would only add insult to the injury.

Secondly, it was the hitch in the plan to kill Lelouch; they absolutely had _not_ expected Rolo to rescue him in the Shinkiro, just as they were about to execute him. His escape was more than enough to lightly strain their deal with the prince, but not enough to terminate it. But then they just gave Lelouch the best opportunity to not only eliminate the Emperor, one of the few people in the world, alive, who could stop him, but also gain a powerful ally in Suzaku, and to top it all off, gain absolute control of Britannia and well over a third of the globe by crowning himself as 99th Emperor, all in one, swift move. Had the circumstances not been so shocking, he might have chuckled at the sheer audacity of the whole plan, something that he would not have put past Lelouch.

It had taken him some time, some time to remember. Back then, back before Japan was taken over. And so, he thought and thought, until he found them, found the memories. He remembered, quite clearly now, how the wayward prince had been sent to the care of the Kururugi Household, as a bargaining chip from Britannia, carrying with him a young girl whose eyes would not open. He remembered how he forced the physically impaired child to learn how to defend himself, with little success, alongside Suzaku, his martial arts apprentice, who would eventually turn into Lelouch's best friend. He remembered how he got to know the boy, not as a prince, but as a person; a young boy, with strongly defined morals and a rather uncommon view of the world, who already acted as if he was a man, taking care of his crippled sister—A cold hearted child in the outside, a big softie for his beloved little sister on the inside. And above all, he remembered how brilliant the child was, how much potential of a genius he possessed, and how much he hated Britannia, his own country, for taking his mother, hurting his sister and dumping the both of them half way to the other side of the world.

The whole war they were now fighting in was a tragedy in the making, and Tohdoh suspected that with the recent intrusion of Geass into their lives, that the war had been destined to occur _well_ before Lelouch was even born, probably because of the previous Emperor. Lelouch himself hated Britannia—no, _loathed_ the Social Darwinism Britannia indulged in, with every fiber of his being. The fact that they gave him up because of a panic because of his Geass, was simply **stupid**, plain and simple. Schneizel played them all for fools, controlling the information he gave them and the flow of the meeting right from the very beginning, and they all fell right into his trap, like a moth to a venus flytrap.

This brought him to the third point. Even disregarding all of the above, the deal the Order of the Black Knights made with the Britannians, _as the single, unified and concise entity of organized defense being designed to serve the U.F.N. __**on its own**__, _was to allow _Japan, and Japan __**only**__, _to abandon its designation of "Area 11" and return to being called Japan, with the citizens becoming Japanese once again. But now, after thinking _everything_ through, he realized that they also excluded all of the other nations and Areas subjugated under Britannia, united under the U.F.N. banner, from recovering their true names. Once Schneizel would have established himself as Emperor, and gone through with his part of the deal, if that, then the world would quickly learn of not only how Japan had discarded all of its honor and dignity to become mere pawns, if cleaner ones, of Britannia, but how they also betrayed the rest of the U.F.N., using its formation, the hopes of millions, and all that the whole union stood for, selfishly forgetting of the rest of the enslaved ones, and ultimately culminate in the world knowing of their betrayal of Zero.

When such a point reached, as a nation, Japan would be finished. Britannia would more than likely use it to extrapolate deals with surrounding nations because of the sakuradite reserves of Japan; the people would **never **trust the Order again, never even see them as Japanese (Hell, he bet that even the lower ranked members of the Order would call them all, the higher ranking ones, all traitors); all of its alliances would be severed when such news of dishonor spread; the U.F.N. would likely disband, and if not, become a disorganized conglomeration of armies bent on a desperate struggle for freedom. If not that, they would likely seek revenge from the Japanese, and even if they would emerge victorious, the result of such a war would be pyrrhic in nature; Japan's ecology and population would be devastated after so much wars on its soil, and the few surviving forces of the U.F.N. would probably be all that truly remains of those nations, for he held little doubt that Britannia would move to take advantage of the situation, and claim the rest of the world in little over a few days with impunity.

In short, the Black Knights handed the world to Schneizel El Britannia in a gold platter, and all it took was to panic just _once_, because they were unable to trust in their leader after all he did for them, just _once_.

Being able to hold his liquor quite well, Kyoshiro was already on his 7th cup and going strong. Taking a break, he found small solace in the fact that now that Lelouch crowned himself Emperor, the only way Schneizel could still rule the world was to get through the entirety of Britannia. Though he doubted how much good they'd do when he had those accursed FLEIJA warheads, the Black Knights would _undoubtedly _aid Schneizel; with that fool Kaname Ohgi as the acting commander in the absence of Zero, the Order, the Japanese as a whole, were now more pawns in this gigantic game of war. Even if he commanded a lot of respect, he was still only general in ancient rank, now a Chief-of-Staff, and he could do little to override the command of Ohgi now. That man would assist Schneizel, believing he'll keep his word. While that was not unlikely, keeping his word or not would spell disaster for the Japanese either way.

But breaking him out of his thoughts was the sudden banging on his door, and without really caring who it was he opened it, idly fingering his katana in case it was a fangirl. He was surprised to see none other than Li Xingke on the other side, but took it all in stride, instead allowing the man to step in, and closed the door. Both taking seats on the floor, the Japanese man wordlessly served sake to the other man, before both took a sip of it.

Xingke was the first one to break the silence, and he grimaced. "I'll be blunt, for once: We fucked up. We all really fucked it up this time." And that uncharacteristic display of language done, he emptied his cup in one sip, and promptly poured himself another one.

Barely reacting to this side of the Chinese commander, he simply raised an eyebrow, before letting out a grim chuckle. "Tell me about it. Once you take the time to think everything through, you realize just how badly we got played by Schneizel. Matter of fact, I was just thinking what it entails for Japan, the U.F.N., the world as a whole, things like that. If it weren't for Lelouch crowning himself just like that, I'd be pretty sure that in a month or two, Schneizel would have done so himself, and we'd all be tried for treason, ranks be damned." He did as Li Xingke did, and poured his 9th cup.

Raising his own eyebrow, he allowed a tired smile to show on his face. "Why, Kyoshiro Tohdoh. You sound as if you've given up." Xingke was not asking, he was stating. It was obvious the man was tired, he was too, and both had practically lost all hope in the face of such grim circumstances.

Tohdoh did not even raise his head. "Old news."

"_Urabe, Ryoga, Shogo… What would you all do in my place? Would you run? Would you continue to fight? Would you stay neutral to everything? My friends, how I wish you could be here __and offer us your counsel in this matter… Japan… Our beautiful Japan is ruined… With this, it will never truly recover…"_

The general allowed a stray tear to make its way down his face and into his sake, landing in the liquid with a "plop!"—evidence that the normally proud man had reached his limit, for no man could hold all his woes in and never expect the dam to burst. Xingke, for his part, did not make any comments. He did not speak, did not offer condolences, but neither did he mock or laugh at him. He simply took a sip of his sake, just a small one, and raising his head a bit, the telltale signs of stress could clearly be seen on his face. He let out a small mutter before keeping on with his drinking.

"…_Zero… Lelouch, it's all in your hands now…"_

_**Woeful war heroes attempt to drown their sorrow in sake, try to lose themselves in the mist of liquor and escape, escape from this imperfect world, from their duties, their lives, the death, the destruction. Woes woven from their own actions, foolhardy thus, because of haste. **_

…_**The sake would bring them solace, passing as it is, before cruelly dumping them back into their hells… Nothing they could do to escape the pyre… But to let destiny **__**run its course… **_

**- ****Li Xingke and Kyoshiro Tohdoh, both brilliant and capable leaders of the Black Knights, defeated by themselves because of a single rash action, which spun multiple events out of control, and threw the whole world for a loop.**

**While the two men try to find a hint of comfort in the drunken haze, let us focus to the next person in this tale, let us hear her wails, let us watch her zeal… -**

* * *

…_**And Then There Was Despair…**_

**FLASHBACK #º2: "Kaguya's Pain"**

**"**_How? How could it be?!__It-it was impossible! Zero-sama… Zero-sama couldn't possibly be dead!! She made him promise! She made him promise he would return to her when he won the war! He always kept his promises, s-so he just HAD to be out there, probably injured, but not dead! Y-yeah, that has to be it… S-o why…? Why can't I stop crying…?"_

And it was the truth. Kaguya's eyes would not stop releasing tear after tear, and she herself could barely keep from breaking out into inconsolable sobbing. Ever since they were given the news that Zero d-died, everyone was in a state of shock and grief. Zero, their great and beloved leader, Zero, had died fighting for Japan, after doing so much for it. While such a death would no doubt garner him the ultimate respect, it did nothing to lessen the impact of the news, and his most devout followers, particularly Kaguya, who _loved_ him, were all heartbroken.

Imagine a moth, lost in the darkness, flitting around aimlessly. Then imagine a bright, beautiful light explode into existence, calling for the moth, playing on its yearning for light. The moth goes to the light, but unlike most, the light is warm, but not burning. It's warm, and embraces the moth, filling it with happiness. The moth lives in bliss, always with the light, but suddenly, the light is enveloped by the darkness, and the moth is left alone in the cold, where it would eventually die.

…That analogy, Kaguya thought, was a good way to describe how she felt. Ever since Britannia took over Japan, her whole life was dedicated to find ways to save it, but all failed, as the Occupation Force was just _too_ strong, and most of their inversions were in mere resistance cells, most lacking in military training, not to mention lacking in resources. Kaguya was forced to grow up quite quickly, though she still kept a part of her childish self in her heart. But reality was grim, and so she was unable to let it out. But then, Zero appeared, and the world itself changed entirely for her. When he made that daring appearance, that bold claim, she could only watch in awe as he succeeded where they failed; he got one over Britannia, admitting to killing Clovis, rescuing her cousin, and throwing the military in momentary disarray. And that night, she allowed a little of her childish self to show, and as a smile blossomed in her face, together with just a small blush, she felt a strange feeling, familiar, but fleeting, form in her chest, and her heartbeat increased. And it felt wonderful.

And as the world bore witness to Zero's continued exploits, continuously proving to be an exceedingly dangerous threat to all of his enemies, she allowed more and more of her inner child to show, she allowed her smile to grow wider and wider, and she felt the feeling grow bigger and bigger. And then, on that final culminating moment, when he truly established his own foothold over Japan, when he revealed his loyal soldiers and compatriots, the Order of the Black Knights, she felt it all reach an outstanding climax, felt her smile reach her ears, felt her blush spread to her whole body, felt the feeling grow to its maximum, easily rivaling the long-buried feelings of her previous love, young Lelouch, and felt her childish heart become happy again, willingly merging with her current self, and utterly completing her world.

And it was then that Kaguya realized what this meant all along; she had fallen in love with Zero. She was completely smitten, heads over heels in love. Initially, she found the idea of the masked man appealing. Then, as the date to the day when they met grew closer, she found the man himself to be absolutely intriguing. And finally, the day they met, she had fully accepted her feelings, fully accepting Zero, regardless of who was behind the mask, for she could see his heart as he waged war with Britannia, and it was the most beautiful thing she'd ever seen; a blinding light, attracting all to it, and repelling the surrounding darkness without pause. And Kaguya felt happy.

But now, well over a year later, her heart broke, shrouded in darkness once again. Her light was gone, and so her happiness gone with him. No one to give her a shoulder to cry in, for she had bolted straight to her room the moment the news registered in her mind. And most of all, no one who could share her pain, who knew how it felt…

"_But wait, that's not true…"_, Kaguya thought, sobbing now, _"There's Kallen. I'm sure she's going through a lot right now…"_

Knowing at least that there was someone who felt similarly to her, she wiped her tears away, newfound determination settling in her eyes. Zero-sama would be disappointed in her if he knew she was crying because of his death. She couldn't have that, so she would devote herself to become stronger, so that when her time came to join her beloved in heaven (for someone as beautiful and compassionate a person as him could go nowhere else), he would be there to receive her with open arms, and she would be able to see his face, and then, they would be happy together, forever.

Noting with little care that she was deluding herself, she made herself more presentable, and left her room, ready to face the world. Her time mourning was short, she knew, but with the war going on, she couldn't dwell on such a grim thought for long. When this was all over, she would mourn for him properly, like a wife should for her departed husband. When the war was over, and Japan was free again, she would have a mighty statue befitting someone of his greatness erected were everyone would see it.

And most of all, she thought, uncharacteristic hatred blossoming in her heart, _before_ this war was over, she would find who killed him, and she would avenge him, _personally._

"_**Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned." She thought with a smirk.**_

**It was only later, when this memory was over, that Kaguya would be amongst those who received the reports of the activity in Kamine Island. With such strong forces, there was only one person Kaguya knew who would attempt, much less **_**successfully, **_**to**** pull such a stunt. With no small amount of suspicion, she would later question Ohgi about the true nature of Zero's "death", and would be given the shock of her life.**

**But this would only fuel her determination more, for now she knew who his "killers" were, and now she knew what to do. Nothing would stop her. First though, she would need an ally, and she knew the perfect person for such a position. **

_**Knocking on the door, she waited a few moments before opening it, sneaking her head around the door. "Uhhh… Kallen? Can I talk with you for a while…?"**_

…**The gears turned, and time moved on. This would be but the beginning…**

**END OF FLASHBACK**

This was crazy, she knew. Her plan, the whole idea, was crazy. But she had to do it, she just _had_ to! She had to be with him, or else she would never be happy. She no longer cared for the Black Knights, so long as they were led by those fools. Only one person could lead those men and women to victory, and he had been betrayed by the people who now led them. The Order was doomed as it currently was. She felt a bit bad about leaving Tianzi alone with all those bigots, but she had Li Xingke to defend her, so she thought she was fine. Not to mention that since Ohgi was supposed to act as CEO in case of Zero's absence, and Zero would be acting Chairman should she be incapacitated, Ohgi now essentially had control of the U.F.N., once her plan was put to action.

Thus, those people were all doomed with a fool like him leading them. Only Zero—no, Lelouch, for while they were both one and the same, she would learn to tell them apart, for she as she loved Zero, she thus loved Lelouch, and now even more so when taking into account her previous feelings for him—could, and he would not return to those honor-less stand ins.

She was being a bit hypocritical, she knew, but as it stood, the only ones to deserve her wrath in the Order would be Tohdoh, Xingke and Kallen. The previous two, understandable given the circumstances and their own responsibilities. Kallen was now her accomplice, in a manner reminiscing to C.C., who she remembered, often called herself Zero's "partner in crime". The two of them would join him, and together, they would show them all. They would show the world that you did not mess with them and got away long enough to boast about it.

Most of all, she would show them, the price to pay for betrayal… and maybe show her beloved just how she had grown, for her body was finally starting to enter puberty, and _damn_, she was growing fast.

…**Maiden once pure, her heart was clouded with darkness with the truth of her love's situation. The devil had taken her heart, but would not devour it. This she knew perfectly, and happier she couldn't be. She would grow stronger, physically and mentally, and the higher echelons of the Order of the Black Knights would learn of their folly soon enough…**

…**For every character in a story though, there always existed at least one to pair with them, be it romantically or as a team. Let us an insight into her mind, and reveal the plot the two concocted…**

* * *

…_**And Then We Yield The Scheme…**_

_Crazy. That's the perfect word to describe it. Beautifully crazy. And I still can't believe where going through with it, but we are. She's going to him because she loves him, and I'm going because I need to be sure I care for him because I want to, not because he ordered me to… If I want to be with him… If I even desire to… To even realize if what I feel is truly mine… I must speak with him… I HAVE TO!_

_Man... Since when has Lelouch affected me so much? It's... It's weird. When I first met him, I didn't think much of him. My "friends" commeted from time to time about this "handsome" boy, who came off as "dark and mysterious, but in a cute way", who happened to be the Vice-President of the Student Council. I just thought he was like any other rich Briannian, arrongant and snobish. And it seemed like it, at first. But then, after the Black Rebellion... When C.C. told me about Zero's identity, I didn't know what to think... Was I loyal because he put a Geass on me? Did I mean anything to him? Was I just a pawn? All these questions... They stormed my mind, did not allow me to think clearly, and paranoia ruled me... Even when you said how "my loyalty was my own", my worries still nagged me, but now they were at their lowest. But they returned, that night when we betrayed you... They returned, stronger than before, and I became desperate to know... And... Well, the est is history. _

_And now, Kaguya's enrolled me for this crazy mission to infiltrate the Empire and meet with Lelouch. And I'm going through with it... Which means I'll be leaving the Black Knights..._

_Sorry, Ohgi. Sorry, everyone, but I can't take it anymore. I won't stand by you anymore. I've seen the looks you've all sent me, even you Ohgi, the looks of suspicion you give, when in your paranoia, you can't even tell if I'm on your side or just pretending to. Well, it seems you've reached a conclusion, because I've also reached mine, and I'm not sticking around anymore when any of you could snap and shoot me when my back is turned at any moment. So I'm going with Kaguya. We're going to Britannia. We're going to slip by as a noble and her loyal servant, into the very heart of the Empire itself. We're going to meet the Demon himself, and we will join him._

_Lelouch… Even if what I feel is not mine… I will still stand by you… Because I have nothing else left… You are my last hope, Lelouch… Please…Please, even if I fall in the middle of all this, never forget me, Kallen Kouzuki and Kallen Stadtfeld, as one of the women who loved you. Because I know that you just have that damn effect to entice pretty much any girl to become interested in you, and before they know it, they've already fallen for you… I should know… _

_Wait for me, Zero…_

**Crazy was it described, but crazy it was, and let it be known that the line between crazy and genius was always rather thin. The chances of their mission ending in catastrophe were high, but they would not give up. They would succeed. They would defy fate itself, and they would go to the Devil's side.**

**This is destiny. And unlike the beliefs of many, destiny would not be denied this time.**

**But for all the tales interwoven continuously with one another, the need to explore the perspective of the person who could make or break them all was dire, and so, we will lastly focus, on Milly Alysia Ashford, supreme coordinator of the festival were many fateful lines would converge…**

* * *

…_**And Lastly, There Was Love…**_

_Fate is rarely kind to one. Because if one lives a good life, it is because Fate was kind to them. If one has the occasional stroke of good fortune, it is merely that, fortune. If one lives like me, then they know that Fate was not kind to me, because for all the fortune I possess, none of this truly catches my undivided attention. All of those parties, I throw because the thrill I get from them is simply amazing. I have yet to find something more entertaining than making Lulu's life so difficult! Heeheehee! _

_Yes, to develop and design a party, so that I can have a good time with my best friends, is what truly makes me happy. But my family would not condone it, for they would rather have me married off to some rich noble boy who could better their chances of restoring their kinship. Ha! Do they honestly believe that…? That I could make that difference…? …No, they don't. They're just deluding themselves. They have become so desperate, to have just one more taste of that ancient glory, the past prestige that our name of Ashford once boasted. But that name was bloated, with the death of Empress Marianne…_

…_And now, well over a decade later from that horrible day, here I am, sitting in an intricately designed and carved redwood desk, with a myriad of papers all around me, coming up with the finer details for the St. Valentine's Festival. Gosh, coming up with parties was supposed to be my strong point, but the ideas just can't seem to come to me anymore! Oh brother, if I can't come up with enough material for a plausible enough festival to be formed and upgraded, then Lord knows what Lelouch may do to me…_

_No, snap out of it Milly! He may have changed a bit, but he's still Lelouch in there! …Yes… He's still the same little kid I played with Nunally and Euphemia when we where children… He's still the boy I teased about marriage alongside them… He's still the child whose world fell apart when his mother was killed before his very eyes… He's still the son of the woman, who made our family's entire success possible…He's still the person who came back to us, when Are—no, Japan, was invaded… Most of all, he's still the man I eventually fell in love with… Yes, I love him with my entire being, but I can't help but make him squirm! It's just so cute… How he remains cold and aloof to advances from most girls, yet how I can so easily break his cool… How he seems uncaring to anyone who speaks to him, yet how loving and gentle he is to his brother…But most of all, it was so cute of him, when that one day that one of my prospective suitors got rather physical with me, he helped me plot a nasty one for that pervert. Thinking of the way of how the man ran for the hills with a complete entourage of big men after him still cracks me up!_

_Yes, Lulu won't hurt me. I know he won't. He's never done anything to lose my respect, and so I will trust him. That's what a woman should always be willing to do for her beloved, right…? …Wait…_

…_Trust? I remember… That one day I had Nina build something for me for this idea I had for a St. Valentine's carnival, but discarded because we did not have the necessary materials or people willing to try it out… But she still made the blueprints… And I bet she still has them! Yes, that's good! Brilliant! Hahahahahahahaha!_

_Yes, if I take this idea, and apply it like his here, and then here, and make a few changes like these and…_

_Bingo! This ought to be good… But first, I'll need Nina's help. Let's see, when was the last time I saw Nina? I think it was during the party to commemorate the union of Empress Tianzi and Prince Odysseus, failed one I'll say. Yes, she mentioned she now worked for Second Prince Schneizel as chief of his R&D team… "In Vogue"? Yes, that's what it was called… But wait, with use of that bomb at the Tokyo Settlement, Nina's I heard, I bet the poor thing is scared out of her wits… Many people are probably after her… So she's probably in hiding. The question is, where? Hmmm…_

_If I were Nina, were would I go? Well, I'd go to my safe haven, the only place in the world where I think I can be safe from danger… But what place would Nina consider that to b—wait… Can it really be that easy?_

…_Ashford Academy…?_

With no time to lose, the blonde woman quickly grabbed her cell phone and called the number of a person she hadn't seen in quite a while. She awaited with held breath, and was happy when she was answered, as words came through with palpable unease and surprise.

"…_Hello? Nina Einstein speaking… Um, Madame President? Is it really you?"_ Milly sat down, smiling a bit, and speaking in a compassionate tone. She was right, the girl did sound a bit nervous.

"Hey there Nina. Yeah, it's me, Milly. Why do you sound so nervous?" She had coax her to speak. It was the only way.

"_W-well, you see… The bomb that killed millions in Tokyo Settlement? I-it was mine… I-I killed all of those people, just because I couldn't control myself…"_ Apparently the girl had been dwelling on it for a while, because she was sure that Nina wouldn't be so forthcoming otherwise. Shushing the girl as Nina let out small sobs, Milly made her question.

"Shh, calm down Nina. I'm not blaming you. You poor girl, you're probably pretty scared aren't you?" While it was not common, Milly often played the motherly role for Nina whenever the shy girl had a problem. So Nina eventually calmed down with the help of Milly's mother act.

"_Yes, I am… There are lots of people who are looking for me. They want to take revenge on me because of how many where killed with my bomb… And I don't blame them! It was because of my insistence that F.L.E.I.J.A. was loaded onto Suzaku's Lancelot. Because I guilt tripped Suzaku into accepting it, he was forced to fire it, and so many people died." _

"Calm down. People tend to take their worries out on a scapegoat whenever they feel down. While you may have made the bomb, you did not order its firing. So that's partly Suzaku's fault too! Silly Suzaku! And besides, Schneizel's mainly the one to blame! I mean, he did order **you** to build it for **him**. Know what that means? It means he's planning something." Letting out a sigh, she continued, "Look, let's not talk about those things. Where are you right now? Are you in hiding? Are you alright?"

Nina sounded a bit more sure of herself when she spoke. _"…Thanks President. Yes, I'm hiding right now. I'm fine. As for where I am, well, I think I know you enough to say you probably suspect where I'm hiding, right?"_

Chuckling, Milly responded. "Let me guess, it's a two-word name, and both words start with "A", am I right?"

"_Correct. But, what is it you wanted from me? I don't think you'd just call to know how I was…"_

Nodding, even though Nina wouldn't see it, she revealed her other reason to call, "Nina, I was named supreme coordinator of this years St. Valentine's Festival, by Emperor Lelouch himself.", ignoring the surprised gasp that she heard from Nina, the blonde continued, "I need to know if you still have the plans for the Trust'o'Meter. _That project_. Yes, that one. I need it for the idea I have in mind for the festival."

"_Well, yes… I think I still have them somewhere in my files…"_

Laughing in triumph, Milly proposed the next part of her plan, "Excellent! Because I think I have a way to allow you to go out of hiding, and pretty much become untouchable!" Hearing Nina express interest in her offer, Milly continued with an evil smile. Why, she was ripping off a page from Lelouch's book. She ought to be.

"Nina, I offer you the position of being my personal assistant for the festival. If you accept the offer, people would have to go through me, thus the Emperor and thus the entirety of Britannia, in order to get to you. Do you accept?"

**Look alive, as the temptress Milly, made a second pact. We shall leave the decision up to Nina Einstein, as the fate of the world once again passes hands to this girl, only to pass hands again and so forth, like an endless game of ball…**

**_They say that love conquers all, and in the case of one Milly Ashford, this seemed to be true, for, if only unconciously, she momentarily broke through the Emperor's Geass, gaining access to a limited set of powerful memories; the memories pertaining to the Devil, th one who claimed her heart. Still, the Geass remained strong, and so they were snatched away once more. Only one way to return them permanently, and that, was to meet with the 99th Emperor once more..._**

…_**And Thus, Culminates This Stage Of Our Tale… **_

* * *

Lulz!

**_EDIT: Thanks, to lelouch3071, for pointing out a flaw in this chapter during Milly's inner monologue. I tried to correct it, slightly, via that extra few sentences at the end, otherwise, I'd risk the whole paragraph losing it's feeling. And also, Milly Alysia Ashford. If I remember correctly, her 2nd name was never given, so I'm going with this. The name means something like "noble or of noble value" or something like that. Lastly, thanks to everyone who reads, favs and such this fic! It means a lot to me!_**

**A.N.: Done! The seriousness streak will get beaten away with a flaming stick by the time the Festival section begins, at which point crack abounds. Btw, this is now a LelouchXHarem fic. I got tired of the poll, sorry. Also, the destiny bit there is a direct reference in order to mock Naruto. I just hate that. Oh well, please Review. Reviews allow authors to gain experience points, points that help correct their errors when they level up. Don't flame me unless you're offering constructive criticism!**


	5. Plans of a Crimson Escapede

**A.N.: F.I.N.A.L.L.Y! UPDATE TIME PALS! YES! I've known I've left you all hanging, so here it is, chapter 5! I was rather slow writing this one, given that a) I wasn't feeling very well. I'm better now though! B) School's started, so I may go whole weeks now without updating. Sorry! It now depends on how heavy I'm flooded with homework. Agh, anyways, this chapter is not my longest chapter. Not counting ANs, this chapter is shorter than the 3rd chapter. It focuses almost entirely on Kallen and Kaguya. _The Plan_ is finally put into action! Please, enjoy!**

**Disclaimer: I DO NOT OWN CODE GEASS! Only this story and its plot!**

**WARNINGS: VERY OOC-ish Kaguya, one scene with blood and death, references to minor violence in another.**

* * *

"_**Hoo! Nice story old chap! **__**But are you sure that these are real?"**_

"_**Hmm! I assure you that these did happen. Anyways, as I was saying, **__**children...**_

_**...let teachings of old pass to you…"**_

* * *

With boredom, the guard assigned to inspect the reports regarding a mysterious piece of cargo reminiscing of a Knightmare Frame in the Emperor's personal jet let out a yawn as one of the technicians gave his report. What _was_ up with these people anyway? Each and every single one of them was sporting the same, emotionless look. It was incredibly creepy, and he was starting to get the jitters. He regretted offering himself for the "mission", ever eager to prove his loyalty to the Empire, now that he was here, surrounded by dozens of strange people. The worst part was, that he was only sent here with a small platoon of soldiers consisting of 5 people.

He would be receiving the report from the workers, while two of his partners inspected the cargo, and lastly, the last two provided extra security alongside the originally placed guards. It was simple, yet if there really _was _a Knightmare Frame here, how would they haul it back to their lord? _"Call the reinforcements, duh!"_, he chastised himself with a sneer, _"The Captain said to send a call back immediately if the reports were to be confirmed. But honestly, a Frame likened to the Mordred? Give me a bre—!"_

"Hey Andrew! We found it!". The female voice that interrupted his thoughts belonged to one of two females in the squad. With a face filled with complete disbelief, he ran to where the cargo bays of the majestic _Crane_ lay open, where Amy, the short, blond haired woman who called them, was looking up to something _big_, their companion, Jeff, beside her. Andrew saw that it was colored a tone of red, which reminded him of wine, but lighter… burgundy, perhaps? It was also quite big and bulky, and lastly, it's overall design was similar to—!

"N-no way… T-the Mordred? Here?! So the reports were true?!" Taking steps back in sheer awe, he could only gaze up to the mighty war machine used by the Knight of Six, as it collected dust in that cave. Andrew, however, somehow managed to quickly snap out of it, and as field captain for the mission, he began to bark orders professionally.

"A-alright! Amy, Jeff, help these guys get the Mordred out of there! You people, bring in whatever equipment you use for big things like this! Audrey, Naomi, stand closer guard over here, but one of you help them if you see they need it." Taking a few steps from the mass of people that began to converge, he took out a long-ranged radio, made for transmissions like this one, and radio'd the Captain.

"HQ! This is Knight Probe 1! I repeat, this is Knight Probe 1 speaking! Please respond!" It took a while before the radio "spoke up", and the voice of his commander was patched through.

"Acknowledged, KP 1. What is the status of your mission?"

"Yes sir! The reports were true! We found the Mordred in the jet's cargo bay! We're currently working on moving it out! Should we expect reinforcements?"

"Affirmative. We're sending the Army's 11th Battalion alongside a squad of technicians and workers to your position. Stay in there while the troops get there soldier!"

"Copy that sir! Knight Probe 1 o—!"

"Andrew, Andrew!" With a huff of annoyance, he turned towards Amy, who was jogging up to him with a rather confused expression on her face.

"What is it Amy? I'm speaking with the Commander!"

"I know that! But one of the pilots just said that they just received orders to fly back to Area 11 and bring another guest to the Emperor!" "What?!"

"HQ, KP 1 here! Did you hear that?"

"Affirmative. Well, this IS the Emperor's jet, and those orders could only be relayed by someone high, HIGH up. Very well, this is what we'll do; we're deploying the troops to fortify the position, and await the plane's arrival. We will then provide a military convoy cover for the newest royal guest. Who knows, with how close we're getting to St. Val's, maybe it's the Emperor's secret lover…?"

_"C-Commander!" _That was a startled voice, probably from one of the communications people. This was further proven by the commander's boisterous laugh.

"Ok, ok! None of you ever heard that understood? Good, now begin setting up a perimeter while the pilots do their job. Now get to doing yours, soldier!"

"Yes, My Lord!" Saluting to his superior, even if he couldn't see it, the Captain gave a grunt, before ending the transmission. With the conversation done, Andrew put away the radio, and gave a nod to Amy. Nodding back, she made a few gestures to the watching people from a few feet away, and the area cleared for the jet as it closed the bays and began lifting off. In a little over 5 minutes, the jet was already away from the site and flying at breakneck speed towards Japan.

This flight would continue for the following hours. Upon nearing national waters, they engaged the super-advanced cloaking system, which enabled them to slip unnoticed under any type of surveillance. For how else did they make their first trip from Japan? It was necessary for the Emperor's personal transport aircraft.

The only eventuality was the co-pilot receiving another call from the mainland, this time from his Lord himself once he heard of the _Black Crane_'s second launch. They were instructions to pick-up any remaining Britannian nobles that may have been left behind. Acknowledging them, the Emperor returned to his duties, and the pilots continued with their mission. The flight returned to monotony, uninterrupted.

They reached Japan in little over 4 hours, once again proving the _Crane_'s overwhelming superiority over the rest of the world's means of speedy transportation.

* * *

"Arrrrrggghh! What do you mean you can't find it?!" Yelled an irate scientist.

Wincing, the unfortunate aide could only give his apologies. "I-I'm sorry sir! No matter how much we look, we cannot find the E.G.F.M.!" He was shaking in his boots. For his credit though, he was the one who looked the most for it, not to mention that he was the one pushed forward by the rest of the assistants to report. A scapegoat. What a pity.

Fortunately, his superior was in a greater state of horror. "Damnit! If Rakshata learns of this, we are **so **going to get it!" It was true. Rakshata Chawla would have their heads for their losing of her newest project.

This was a newer version of the Indian scientist's Gefjun Disturber. The **E**xpansive **G**efjun **F**ield **M**odule, or E.G.F.M. for short, was a special weapon attachment for Knightmare Frames. While still experimental, it was tested, and proven to overcome the current Gefjun countermeasures. What it did was first create a localized Gefjun disturbance wave at a single point. This wave would only activate when a certain energy frequency was emitted in controlled bursts. Once enough of the energy had amassed using the disturbance as a focal point, a final frequency would be activated, causing all of the energy to combine with the disturbance wave, ending in a volatile chain reaction that would cause the whole wave to implode in every direction, encompassing a very wide area with the Gefjun disturbance, now potent enough to render every manner of electronically-oriented equipment useless. The "expansive" part of the weapon consisted that the Gefjun wave was now also intended to salvage auxiliary energy from any targets, and use it to further power and expand the wave. With appropriate usage, this weapon would effectively win any war for the Black Knights. They were even able to create small, compact bombs with the same, if weaker, properties, just without the "expansive" effect.

However, as it still was in testing, it presented several drawbacks. For one, given the complexity of the module, they would need to create a separate module which could link with a Knightmare, _then _link the Gefjun module. That procedure would require several minutes, and the creation of such a link would prove daunting indeed. It would also be incredibly taxing on the Frame's energy reserves

Then, there was the clause the required the user to remain still for the entirety of the procedure, leaving it to become a sitting duck for the enemy. While allies could provide protection, it also required a very capable Devicer to operate the module, all the while keeping from being shot down in combat. They could remake the module so it could work with the _Ikaruga _itself, turning it into a doomsday superweapon, however, the increase in energy in comparison with a Knightmare Frame would not be multiplicative, but rather, _exponential_. The ship did not have enough energy to fire one shot and subsequently keep the accompanying countermeasures for the expansive wave up. It would be a moot point to have made the thing in the first place.

Thirdly, there was the need to retreat their units from the battlefield to keep from any of their own from getting hit by the disturber. However, this would also alert the enemy of a possible secret weapon being deployed; thus, they would also have a chance to clear their own units from the field. The less electronic devices hit, the lesser the reach of the wave. Covert operations would not work either, for no matter how much they tried, they couldn't keep the module from sending out a particular energy signal that could be picked up by even the most rudimentary of surveillance systems. The enemy would know well in advance of the deployment of the weapon, and the pilot would be at the enemy's mercy.

And then, there was the issue of the weapon's disappearance.

"Shit, the module, the bombs, the plans… Heck, even stick drawings and used tissue paper! The whole binder in the archives was taken! Oohh, when the boss learns of this…"

With hesitance, the aide advised, "…Sir, please pardon me if my advise sounds like insubordination, but, what if the boss doesn't learn of this? You know… she's been rather… withdrawn from her work for a while now. Everyone's been, ever since… _that._" At this, a wave of depression hit everyone in the room. There wasn't a single citizen of the U.F.N. who wouldn't get like this whenever the death of Zero was referenced (or so the non-higher-Black Knight ranked people thought). It was truly a hard blow to the morale of everyone.

The scientist put his hand over his eyes, and looked down. The aide thought he could see a tear. "…Right. Let's… Oh let's just forget this happened. Let's tell the boss when she asks, and then build another one. Just don't mention that horrible topic anymore."

All of the aides looked down, and the head assistant let out a tear as well. "Very well… Zero… May our Mother Amaterasu bless your soul…"

_**It was with great pain that the Japanese researchers forgot about their stolen project, opting instead to once again, enter mournful silence for their "departed" leader, unaware that his "killers" were the very people now leading them.**_

* * *

With a small huff, the red-headed woman paused to look around the room. If everything went according to plan, then this would, quite likely, be the last time she would ever see it, much less _be_ in it. With that thought, she took in her quarters, boundaries of her privacy, bringing her comfort in her solitude, committing it all to memory. _If_ the whole plan went smoothly, she would have something far better than this soon, but even so, she would never forget this small piece of heaven that had always been here for her.

That moment done, she focused her gaze towards the floor, lost in thought. Many of her belongings would be left behind, if only to keep appearances. She was only taking a couple of small duffel bags; one filled with some clothes, the other, with her most precious possessions. The bags were stored in secret within the Guren's cockpit, well after any maintenance had been done to it. The Guren's Key was hanging around her neck, as always, kept under her clothes, resting between her breasts.

A small amount of sweat formed at her brow, nerves once again striking at her. She wiped it away with the back of her hand, steeling herself for the plan. She once again went over it all. It was a good thing she had stolen those gadgets the researchers were working on. With these compact Gefjun bombs, their plan would go by a lot better than anticipated. And she just knew that Lelouch would **definitely **appreciate a gift like that Gefjun-something module.

"_Ok… Let's go over the plan once more. I will go in 30 minutes to the hangar, and __state to the control room that I will start my patrol rounds, alone as always. Kaguya should be on her way to the Memorial Tombstone established in Shinjuku Ghetto, alone (except for a guard unit, that is), under the pretext that she wishes to give a solitary prayer to the departed souls of the people who lived where it all began. By the time she gets there and is left alone, the Gefjun bombs should have completely disabled the Black Knights. By that time, I should have "diverged" a little from the set path, and should be assumed to have been "hit" by the expansive wave as well. I'll quickly sneak into the Settlement, and get Kaguya into the Guren. We will then make our way undetected towards the west of the island, and hopefully, infiltrate one of the outing jets. We will have approximately 3 hours, 4 if they get hit really bad."_

It was a bit drastic, the red-head admitted to herself. The original plan originally constituted of a severe "malfunction" in the _Ikaruga_'s system. However, once she overheard the R&D team talking about this, she proposed to the Kaguya that the plan be redone so that it includes the Gefjun disturber in order to buy them very valuable time, and she agreed. As for taking patrol rounds, she had decided to pick that "hobby" up to appear to be concerned about the security with recent developings. The lower ranked soldiers instantly agreed, having absolute confidence in her abilities, as well as understanding that "she must be feeling incredible guilt about not being able to save Zero". As if! The only thing she regretted now, was being unable to go with him. But she'd rectify that.

Looking at the clock mounted on the wall, she saw that there were 20 minutes before the plan was fully in motion.

Kallen departed for the hangar, needing to get in her pilot suit after all, glad that she had taken the time to set up the bombs all throughout the vessel.

_**"Those traitors will get what's coming to them…" Kallen thought maliciously, no longer calling herself one of the Black Knights. **_

* * *

Sighing, the long, black-haired girl walked towards the Shinjuku Ghetto, an entourage of formidably armed Black Knights escorting her. This squad was assembled by Ohgi himself, with a few recommendations from Nagisa, so she held little doubt that they were informed to kill anyone who wasn't of Japanese descent. _"The poor things"_, she couldn't help but think, _"They're willingly working for those backstabbers! The saddest part is, they don't even know the truth. I would hardly be surprised if they were only loyal to them as well..." _, Kaguya thought grimly.

Taking a few glances around the path they were going down, she continued her inner monologue. _"…In which case, there's no use attempting to get them on our side. They will prove useful to defend me from any thugs that may try to get at me for a ransom, but it is a shame, really; Kallen won't spare them."_ Surprisingly cold, coming from Kaguya, but ever since Ohgi made the error of telling her of their betrayal, her happy self quickly became more of a mask instead of her true self. Only **he** would be able to truly return her to that state of happiness. She had already hardened her heart, prepared herself to be accomplice to crime if need be, fully accepting the darkness, just if she could be with him.

Now all that was left, was for the plan to be put into action.

Seeing the silhouette of the entrance to the ghetto appear in the horizon, she made a few calculations in her mind. It would take them about 10 more minutes to reach the entrance, then another 15 to reach the stone. Then, she would "enter a period of solitary prayer for the departed", thus, the men would set up a perimeter around the walled park where the memorial was erected. She checked her wristwatch. The plan would start in 28 minutes. All she had to do was act normal. Everything was right on schedule. _Perfect_.

**_"Your show now, Kallen! Throw 'em into chaos!" She though, careful not to let her evil smirk show. _**

* * *

Minase Mitsuki let out a small yawn of boredom. What a slow day! Seated to her side where her friends Futaba Ayame and Ichijiku Hinata, both grumbling to show they shared her sentiments. All they've done for the past couple of days is to monitor this and monitor that and _!_

Spinning around in her chair, the usually calm girl let out a childish _"I'm boooooooooooored!"_, drawing the attention of some of the people manning their stations in the bridge. Though many told her to shut up, there were just as many who grumbled about how there was really nothing to do. One such person was Ayame, the purple haired girl who was staring dully at the monitor in front of her, idly chewing gum as her eyes threatened to droop. She was _**that **_bored. Hinata on the other hand, was tapping her fingers on the armrest of the chair, desperately trying not to take out her laptop and begin surfing the web.

Stopping her spinning, Mitsuki kept on whining. "I'm so bored! There's nothing to do! We all just sit here on our asses all day, monitoring this and that and not really getting anywhere! I'm supposed to be in charge of comms, they say. What communications?! No one is out in the friggin' field right now! You have to muster our defenses, they say. From who?! That fly over there?! Arrrghh!" Pulling at her hair, she buried her head in her arms and screamed, even as her friends rubbed her back and arms, deftly waving away at all the people who stared at the brown-haired operative.

Fortunately for her though, a small beeping sound alerted her. Instantly at attention, she put the headphones to her ears, and pressed a glowing button. With detectable elation and _finally_being able to do something, she did her job. "This is control, operative Minase speaking."

"Control, this is Captain Kallen Kouzuki of Zero Squadron. Requesting clearance to sortie to start patrol rounds."

Nodding, she gave a look to Hinata, who manned the radars, and gave a look to group down below who where in charge of supervising the hangar and the sorties of Knightmare Frames. She received a nod. "Affirmative, Captain Kouzuki. Sortie permitted. You may launch at your ready." "Copy that."

Letting out a sigh of contentment, she twirled one of her brown locks. "Now that's _much_ better!"

_**She never noticed the strange, compacted contraption attached beneath her workstation. **_

* * *

Holding onto the chain link which would take her to the Guren's cockpit, Kallen checked her watch's timer discreetly. "_8 minutes and 39 seconds and counting."_, Kallen thought, _"Better get out of here fast then. This is gonna be a bit close…" _

Reaching the top, she quickly stepped into the cockpit, taking the usual straddling position on the motorcycle-like control seat. Inserting the key, she quickly ran through the activation commands of the Guren S.E.I.T.E.N. Hakkyokushiki, the chamber closing off to the exterior world. Her eyes darted to a small corner and she spotted her duffel bags. Taking out a small object from one, she placed it securely in a holder within the cockpit.

"_**7 minutes and 42 seconds…"**_

On the outside, in the hangar, some Black Knights milling around stopped to stare in awe as the Guren's wings revealed themselves, energy collecting in the thrusters before exploding out and swiftly coalescing into four, feather-like shards on each side. Good thing there was an area cleared out entirely for the Guren, because with wings activated, it was easily the biggest Knightmare Frame the Black Knights possessed, both width and in stature.

"_**6 minutes and 27 seconds…"**_

"Hangar bay doors open, Captain. You can sortie whenever you wish." Came the voice from Mitsuki at the other end of the line, from the bridge. Kallen readied herself. But first, she gave a reply, just to make sure. "Roger that. I'm going to be doing multiple rounds today, so excuse me if I leave a little too fast." "Understood. Return safely, Captain." _"You're the ones who should be worrying about yourselves. My safety will be the least of your worries…_

_**...in 5 minutes and 40 seconds!"**_

"Guren S.E.I.T.E.N. Hakkyokushiki, launching!" With that bellow, she pushed the lever forward, activating the thrusters and causing the mighty red behemoth to move along the magnetic-rail track designed for Knightmare Frame sorties. Shooting out of the hangar bay of the _Ikaruga _and into the open sky, the red-head allowed herself a moment to enjoy the feeling of being able to fly once more, before gracefully spinning the Guren in the air, stabilizing it and getting into position, building up some energy for the big push. Good thing she had stored multiple emergency energy fillers just in case; she had a feeling this would be a long trip. Checking the timer once more in impatience, she read:

"_**4 minutes and 16 seconds.."**_

"_It's almost time. Better get the hell out of here!" _With that, she took one last moment to dig around the duffel bag with her precious possessions, pulling out a photo of her and her brother. A couple of photos right behind it depicted her time with the Ashford Student Council and the official founding of the Black Knights. Zero and Lelouch, the one and the same, featured prominently in both of the pictures. Staring at all three of them, she stuffed them inside her suit, right next to her heart.

She murmured to herself. "**'Japan's soul will forever live on, so long as Zero lives'**. They said Zero died… But he's not dead. He was betrayed… By us. The Black Knights. We're correcting that, Kaguya and I… That ship… That is not Japan. That island… is no longer Japan… Japan, is where Zero is… So I'm going to Zero, to Japan… to LELOUCH!" Screaming resolute, she shot off into the distance, knowing she had only a small timeframe before the timed bombs armed themselves.

She checked the detonation device she'd strapped in the holder. Bars of light when from green to yellow to red along its length, indication of the bombs' synchronization with the _Ikaruga_'s system. They were short of two spaces from reaching the other end, turning red. Once the time passed and the bars filled, she'd either have to detonate the bombs herself, or run like hell, for she'd set the bombs for mass implosion after 10 seconds passed without being manually detonated. Her eyes darted to the timer she'd set on the monitor.

"_**41 seconds!" ("Damn! I've really gotta stop dwelling on such shit when I'm short of time!")**_

Increasing her speed, it took her some more seconds to finally get out of the effective range of the E.G.F.M. disturbance wave, thanks to the incredible speed of the Guren because of the wings. Wiping a bit of sweat form her brow, she smirked. _"Heh. __**25 seconds**__." _Resuming her flight path, she darted a bit into the path she accustomed to travel, being able to see the Settlement from her position. _"Just as planned."_ Turning her gaze towards the silhouette of the _Ikaruga_ on the horizon front, her smirk grew from victorious to smug. To think she'd be able to get back at them thanks to a pair of drunk scientists…

"_**Ha! Talk about a bout of poetic justice!"**__** Keeping her smirk, she turned and flew away, activating the rear camera feed.**_

* * *

"And she's off! Ah, it feels good to do my job. I thought I was seriously going to die of boredom!"

"Oh come on Mitsuki! Stop being so dramatic and **sit down**!"

"Ok ok! Geez Hinata! No need to get so jumpy about it!"

"Calm down girls! Stop fighting! Please?"

"…Fine, but only because you said so, Ayame."

The three having made their peace, returned to what they were doing… Which was to be bored. Goddmanit!

Ayame spoke up, "Hey, Tsuki-chan? Hina-chan?"

"What is it, Ayame?"

"How do you figure we'll stop being bored? As in, something that could happen?"

…_**5…**_

"I don't know… Maybe… "

…_**4…**_

Her friends and work partners leaned in hopefully, wishing to hear her idea…

…_**3…**_

Imitating a cheap robot voice, she quoted. "Someone set us up the bomb."

_**...2…**_

Faceplanting, everyone was glaring at the chortling Hinata. From somewhere in the background, a guy said in a similar voice, "What." This only served to add to her giggles. Everyone found themselves joining in.

…**1…**

"Haaa… But we all know that won't happen. This ship is just too well protected!"

"Heh, you're right! Hahahaha!"

* * *

_**She smiled as the bars covered the full length of the device. "Bombs armed." Fingering the button, her smile turned cold. "Here goes. This one's for Zero!"**_

_**She pressed the detonation button.**_

* * *

The device sent out a signal, a very special and unique signal from the Guren, all the way to the _Ikaruga_. All the bombs received the frequency, indicating them to unleash their disturbance waves at once. Warning beeps came from them, surprising any Knights who heard them all throughout the vessel. The light on each bomb shone green, before hazy green spheres exploded with tremendous force from each of the bombs, scattering with purpose as many personnel were sent flying away due to the force of the blast. Many impacted walls and hard objects, injuring some and knocking out several. As the mayhem and chaos instantly afflicted every Black Knight in the _Ikaruga _who heard the loud bangs, electronic gadgets and devices alike started going haywire, out of control, ceasing function or going up in flames entirely due to the radiation.

Screams of pain and fear, shocked and pleading, could be heard everywhere, Black Knights calling out for help to others. But security was busy trying to open the doorways that had sealed them all in their sector. Aides and technicians were either unconscious, injured, in other parts of the ship or busy attempting to get the systems under control. Minor fires broke out inside, but most were put out before they could spread. Cables and fuses short-circuited, letting out hot sparks our busting out of the metal walls and ceiling. Panels busted or began to smoke. Doors closed and opened without control. Terminals began to ignite. It was pure chaos.

As this all happened, the cause of this, the green spheres, grew and grew in size, as they encompassed everything. Some met and combined, growing bigger and stronger. Watching Black Knights realized that they were the cause, and it was only a matter of time before they got the whole of the _Ikaruga_! Many started trying to destroy them with items, but they simply went through the spheres. People began to lose their will, and fled for safer areas with less electronic equipment.

From the outside, the _Ikaruga _visibly shook, unable to properly stay balanced in the sky due to the severe damage it was suffering in the inside. Almost all of its systems began to fail, and fires broke out along some sections of its surface. Emergency personnel quickly got out and personally put out the fires using standard extinguishers, though some managed to slip through the hull and into the ship's inner machinations, causing even more damage and instability.

In the bridge, many were unconscious, having been caught in the initial blast. Of the three main operatives, only Mitsuki remained awake. The ones awake all tried what they could, trying to figure out a cause, trying to help get the systems back up, trying to open the entrance. But nothing they could do worked, until they heard loud banging coming from it, and the door suddenly opened, after the sound of machine gun fire ceased of course. Captain of the ship, Yoshitaka Minami, stepped in, and quickly began to try to stir the ship.

A frantic operative spoke up, "Sir! The _Ikaruga_'s in bad shape sir! She won't be able to hold out for long in the sky! All systems are failing one after another! What should we do?!"

Rubbing his head, the captain quickly decided on a course of action. It was a good thing they were currently floating over the North Pacific Ocean, not too far off the coast, or else he didn't know if they'd make it. "Listen well! Before all systems fail, set the ship to crash into the waves! That should put out the fire! After that, we'll be adrift, but the coast guards should provide support! Quickly! The longer you dawdle, the slimmer our chances of survival!"

The flagship of the Black Knigths moved, unstable and severely impaired. It managed to comply with it's orders, setting the ship to land on the water just off to the coast, before all of the Gefjun Disturbance Fields met, combining and sending out a final wave before vanishing, encompassing the entirety of the _Ikaruga_, completely annihilating any of the remaining systems. The mighty ship crashed into the waves, a gigantic pillar of water spreading from the sea, their trial finally reaching its end. But they would have to spend quite a while repairing, for the _Ikaruga _was in very bad shape.

Having flown away from the vessel, the Guren was completely unfazed by the powerful winds stirred up by the Disturbance Fields. In her cockpit, Kallen grinned in triumph. Kallen & Kaguya – 1, Black Knights – 0. She really wished she had some popcorn with her, especially when she saw a gigantic green sphere form around the ship. _"Hoo, that was __**way**__ better than I thought it would be. These researchers actually do come up with some crazy shit every now and then. Sorry, everyone, but you only have the higher chain of command to blame. _

_Shinjuku Ghetto should be a couple of minutes away at max speed. Kaguya, here I come!__ Alright Guren! Full speed ahead!"_

Setting for maximum velocity, the Knightmare quickly became nothing more than a red blur streaking across the sky towards the Settlement. Her last thoughts on the matter before she entered the area of the settlement where:

**_"Good thing I hacked the cameras and set them to take photo off Ohgi's face when the disturbances began. Now THAT was priceless." Of course, she choose to ignore how quickly she turned on her former comrades—perhaps, her heart won over her logical thinking?_**

* * *

Kaguya did not even need to open her eyes to know that her guards were panicking. She had felt the tremors that lightly shook the earth, as the flagship crashed into the sea. She could hear the hurried footsteps of the men rushing to her position, could hear the frantic pleas for a response on the crackling line on the end of the _Ikaruga_'s communications array, and could hear the field captain shouting orders to the men to immediately form up around her protectively. _"About time, Kallen. And here I was thinking that something had gone wrong."_, she thought, nodding to the men as they formed around her, faking a surprised look, _"According to our schedule, you should be arriving within the next minute."_

"Alright men, we gotta escort the Supreme Chairwoman to the safest location possible! We'll use formation #º3, and—". "Captain, look!" "What are you—Wait, is that… Is that the Guren?!"

And indeed, it was the figure of the Crimson Lotus, the red Knightmare Frame belonging solely to the ace of the Black Knights that was heading right towards their position. Seeing the powerful war machine, the men felt their hearts swell with hope and joy. With the support of Major Kouzuki, no one would be able to lay harm upon their charge. Their mission might as well be called a success.

Or it would have been, as much to the shock and horror of the guards, the Guren swiftly let loose its two Slash Harkens, hitting three of the men; two who had been standing farther apart, and one on the edge of the bigger group. The first two died mercifully, instantly crushed under the massive weight. The lone man, however, had only his left arm and leg torn apart from his body, having reacted at the last moment. He let out a scream of extreme pain, flailing aloud helplessly, begging for his comrades to save him. As they looked on in horror, the man was put out of his misery, as the enormous foot of the culprit crushed the dying man, much like a human would do to an ant.

The captain shook his head in total disbelief, unable to comprehend _why_. "W-why?! Why is the Guren…?!" He looked in horror, as his remaining men scrambled, returning fire to the red machine. A failed attempt it was, as the bullets simply bounced off its armor. With swift movements that could not be from this world, for the pilot's skills certainly did not seem to belong to the realm of reality, the Guren eliminated one man after the other, stepping on one, thrusting its combat knife into another, firing the Harkens into two more, and _flicking_ the last one with only a finger of its clawed arm. That last one, with a sickening squelching noise, was sent flying as nothing more than a bloodied mass, hitting the ground harshly. The captain looked around, and saw that, indeed, he was the last one.

He was the only thing left standing to defend Lady Kaguya from the rogue Guren.

Barely managing to keep himself from tripping on his own feet, he stepped before the black-haired girl, using his arm to push her back, even as he raised a shaking arm towards the Guren, combat rifle in hand. "L-lady Kaguya, run! Run away, please! I-I'll try to stall it as long as I can, but p-please, get away from here!!" But instead of hearing a startled acknowledgement, he only heard amused giggling. Suddenly, he felt something cold, something hard and **incredibly painful**, enter his body from his back. Letting out a wail of pain, he managed to look towards his chest to see a knife protruding from it, red beginning to flow forth from around the steel.

He fell to his knees, barely managing to keep his gaze towards the front, even as the person who he was supposed to protect, stepped in front of him and towards the Guren, climbing on its offered right hand.

Sitting on the steel appendage, Kaguya turned her gaze to look down upon the carnage Kallen had created. The corpses, barely distinguishable as previously human, were strewn about. Many were still bleeding, and various traces of blood were all around the park. Focusing on the lone man, who was already on his way to death's embrace, she spoke.

"Well, captain, you're the last one alive. And soon, you'll join your comrades in the afterlife. Do you have any last words?"

Blood trailing down his mouth, the captain of the guard spat out, "_W-why?! _Why, Lady Kaguya, Major Kouzuki?! Why would you do this?!"

Closing her eyes, Kaguya revealed the secret to the soon-to-be-dead-captain. "Because, dear captain, you and these men where in our way. Had you not been assigned to accompany me on this "trip", you and your men would never have to have died. The higher chain of command assigned you as a means to "keep an eye" on me. Knowing my devotion to Zero, they couldn't risk me going rogue. But I am sure that they did not expect a plan of this magnitude. The Black Knights will be out of action for quite a while, with the _Ikaruga_ extremely damaged as it is. With them unable to keep us here, we'll be able to reunite with Zero."

Gasping, he looked to them. Zero?! "R-reunite?! B-but, Zero is dead!" He only received a scoff for his troubles.

"That is the story you were told. In reality, Prince Schneizel El Britannia discovered Zero's identity, and managed to convince the higher chain of command of the Order to betray Zero in exchange for Japan's "freedom". However, Zero escaped, and went into hiding for a while. Since they could not have Zero reveal their treachery, they decided to say Zero died because of F.L.E.I.J.A.'s detonation. Kouzuki felt guilty, and I found out from Ohgi himself only recently. We hatched up this plan in order to escape from them and go to Zero, our TRUE leader." The conviction, the honesty, the utter passion held in the words of the Sumeragi were simply too real, too strong to be faked. The captain took this in, and looked at his dead comrades grimly.

"I-I see… But, if you had told us, then we could have assisted…" "No." Snapping to attention, the voice came this time from an older, deeper female voice. It was Kallen, the former ace of the Black Knights, having stepped out of the cockpit. The red-head's face was impassive, but he could see a small bit of regret in her eyes.

"We are sorry, but even if we did, there was not guarantee that you would have believed us. If even one of you did not believe us, he would have to be eliminated, and that could automatically spark your distrust in us. Besides, it is far easier to transport just the two of us in the Guren, not to mention that it would make for a more discreet escape. An entire cell of missing guards, together with Lady Kaguya, the Guren and I would undoubtedly catch more of the attention than only us.

Anyways, they'll discover our plot eventually, of that we are sure. But with the usage of that Gefjun ordinance, they will spend a lot of time regrouping and repairing the _Ikaruga_. Enough time for us to leave Japan and slip into Britannia, where Zero is." Both females climbed into the cockpit, Kaguya wrapping her arms around Kallen's waist in order to support herself. Using the intercom, Kallen spoke. "Well, captain, that is all we shall tell you. I apologize once more, but it is time for you to die. We cannot leave any witnesses, much less ones who have learned of our plan." And so, she aimed the Harkens, ready to fire.

The man, for his part, bowed his head, tears falling from his eyes. "…I understand, Major… Please, go to Zero, free the Order… Save Japan…" Inside the cockpit, both women nodded, and Kallen fired. The captain died instantly, just like the first two did. Mercy was indeed given to him.

Bowing her head, Kaguya allowed herself to whisper two, symbolic words.

"_**Nippon, Banzai…"**_

It took five minutes. Kallen gathered the corpses of the guards, and used a flamethrower to burn them quickly, letting the ashes of the fallen warriors blow away in the breeze, joining with nature and becoming a part of Japan itself. Using some rubble which had scattered around with the tremors, she covered the blood which stained the ground, and quickly used her Guren's weaponry to destroy the park, as well as a small area, nearest to the direction of the shoreline, leaving only the memorial stone in perfect shape. This would help disguise what occurred here, if only slightly.

After it was all done, Kallen and Kaguya looked at each other in the eye. Nodding, Kallen focused on their objective; to leave Japan behind, and go to Lelouch. The Guren rose, energy wings forming. She was glad that no one was around to witness the massacre that took place; everyone (Japanese and Britannian alike) tended to stay away from the remains of the Shinjuku ghetto.

Before the departed, Kallen chose to speak with Kaguya.

Pressing a few keys while watching some displays, the spiky-haired woman asked. "You know, I never would have expected you, Sumeragi Kaguya of all people, to literally stab an "ally" in the back." Kaguya did not even move her head form its resting position in Kallen's back. Eyes closed, yet in an amused expression, she answered the query.

"Is it really that difficult to imagine?"

"Of course. Never thought you were cold-hearted enough to kill, much less when your opponent's back was turned."

In response, the expression on Kaguya's face turned cold. "Of course I wasn't. The idea of taking a life, with my own hands, was repulsive to me. Even now, I can feel the disgust I feel for myself eat away at my being."

"Was?"

"If I want to stand beside the demon, then I must learn to be like a demon. If one would ever attempt to use me to get to him, I must be ready to kill or be killed, to make sure Lelouch doesn't suffer because of my weakness. Only when I can accept that fact, will I truly be useful to him."

"Useful? Do you not care if he would only use you, then discard you when he no longer wants you?"

"I do not. Even if I were to be tossed aside, I would find a way to remain with him. My love for him will never diminish, Kallen. I do not know about the rest of the world, but I was always able to read his heart whenever he spoke. I know, knowing him both as a child and as the man he is now, that, if he would discard me, it would only be for my sake."

Kallen stopped. She simply ceased to move. A moment passed before she gave a sideways look to the girl—no, _woman_— behind her. She was far more mature than anyone her age should be. She was gripping her suit slightly, and a few tears were slipping down her face. It pained her to see someone as youthful as Kaguya become like this. But she could not comfort her now. She had to remain focused, or else she'd break down too; Kaguya was far more true to herself than Kallen was to herself.

Turning to look towards the front screen, she finished with an honest whisper. "Kaguya, you are truly a kind person."

For her part, she opened her eyes slightly, and through her tears, Kaguya smiled. "Thank you, Kallen." She wrapped her arms around the older female again, readying herself for the flight.

Once they were both ready, the Guren shot off, becoming a blur as it headed towards the airport. The next phase of their plan would be to sneak the Frame into a plane.

They would hijack it if they had to.

* * *

Nina shuffled where she stood, even as the men going about packed her belongings—which included a few bags, and the bulk of it, many crates of medium size, each containing many parts, gadgets, cables and such. She was taking everything that belonged to her that she both could take, and considered precious. She had to anyway, if Milly's plan was to be followed correctly. Of course, accepting the offer did nothing to lessen the shock.

Hours later, a man knocked on the entrance of her workshop, and with great hesitance, she opened. It was to her elation that the man showed an insignia that Milly had described, which showed his loyalty to the Emperor, and the Emperor only. She proceeded to let them in, fully trusting in Milly. Well placed trust, to be noted. The men quickly packed her belongings in the trunk—the extraordinarily spacious trunk, she'd like to add—, and off they went. And much like Milly, she had reached the secluded airport location in record time. She was now gazing up at the technological wonder that was the _Black Crane_.

She was snapped out of her thoughts, as one of the men approached her. "Milady, we have finished cargo loading procedures. We should be ready for lift off within the next 10 minutes." She nodded, watching as the man walked off, once again, noting that the Emperor's men were also amazingly quick in performing their duties. Every lift off sequence she'd entertained in boredom usually took into account "normal" staff, thus, they took longer. If the Emperor had more men like these at his beck and call at any time, she'd hopefully feel much safer in the Empire. _"Well of course! I'm going into the direct care of the Supreme Coordinator, who is in turn under the care of the Emperor!"_ Reprimanding herself, she decided to move to a better position to inspect the craft, when a commotion a ways to the side alerted her that something was not right.

"Halt! Who goes there?" This was the voice of one of the guards. Monotone still, though an underlying sense of warning could be heard in it. He and several others formed up, pointing guns, machine guns at the darkness. One even had a bazooka ready.

The response, to say the least, was not what any of them was expecting... "Oh, why, it is only little 'ol me." …For the tone was childish. From the darkness, came a young girl, no older than 16, dressed in white and red. Black-haired and with big, green eyes, Nina identified the girl as an elev—no, Japanese. But what was she doing here?

As if answering her mental question, a gigantic arm struck the ground in front of the guards, followed swiftly by its owner, a massive, red Knightmare. The Knightmare blocked the feeble gunfire from the guards, and raised its other arm, ready to finish them off; Nina spotted a grenade launcher integrated into the arm, and knew them to be done for. But she also knew the mecha to be familiar, and the voice from the speakers only confirmed her suspicions.

"All right, you Brits! As of this moment, this plane belongs to us! If you don't do as we say, we'll kill you!" But Nina could not allow this.

"Kallen! Kallen, is that you?!" Hearing her name being called, the surprised ace pilot spotted a familiar face, and couldn't help but call back.

"N-Nina?! What are you doing here?!"

"Kallen, wait, please! You and that girl want to board this plane, right? I can allow you to accompany me if you cease this takeover attempt!" But a guard interfered.

"But, Milady! The Emperor gave us explicit orders to only allow you, and any other missing nobles to come aboard!" _"Nobles?! Wait!"_

"Then there is no problem. The Devicer of that Knigthmare is Kallen Stadtfeld, only heir to the prestigious Stadtfeld name. Surely, if she came out and you confirmed her identity, she and her vassal could come aboard?" Pausing, the man turned towards the Knightmare. Kallen, mentally thanking Nina for this, quickly put her hair back into the style it was when she used to attend Ashford Academy—slick, framing her face. Stepping out of the cockpit boldly, looking down at them, she watched as the same guard spoke in hushed whispers to a man who had approached with a portfolio, which she spied, held photos of the many nobles which had moved to Japan ever since it was firs overtaken by Britannia.

The guard received a nod, and he nodded back. He signaled for the rest to back down, as he held the portfolio in hand, raised high into the air, showing the photo of a red-haired girl, who resembled the woman standing in the Knightmare. At once, the guards obeyed, bowing to Kallen, who turned to look towards Nina, and gave her a grateful smile. The black-haired girl from before, whom the green-haired scientist had ignored up until now, also smiled gratefully.

Seeing that her plan worked, Nina allowed a smile of her own to appear on her face.

* * *

"So… For whatever reason you called the _Crane_'s pilots to tell them to pick up any nobles? You know as well as I do that all nobles, except one, are accounted for; either here, or dead." That one, was of course, Kallen.

For his part, the man laughed. "Oh I don't know. Perhaps I was just hoping that Kallen would choose to come to me for some reason, and somehow manage to get here. Probably with Kaguya in tow." His companion shared his laugh of amusement, shaking her head, green locks swaying with the motion. "Honestly, as if _that_ would happ—!"

But a guard stepped in at the moment, and delivered urgent news. "My Emperor, we have received reports that your jet has picked up a missing noble. A "Kallen Stadtfeld", sir, together with a black-haired female eleven!"

Silence. The guard looked towards his Emperor to see the funniest sight of his life; his mouth was wide open, figure hunched over and looking at the guard in disbelief, left eye twitching sporadically. Closer examination revealed that a fly flew in and out without the royal's notice. His female companion also showed signs of disbelief, though her face showed it less.

On the background, Kururugi Suzaku cursed, handing some money over to the grinning Jeremiah Gottwald. "Pleasure doing business with you."

"Business? Please, you just won the bet of "how long will it take for something totally unexpected to happen, causing Lelouch to be left completely dumbfounded, complete with gaping mouth and nervous tick". No need to rub it in." Said an embittered Suzaku.

Bet? The guard was lost. What happened? Did the news fry his Lord's brain?

* * *

**A.N.: Chapter End! Yayz! n_n! I've been dying to write this part of the story, but I just couldn't get around to doing it! I hope I didn't screw the plot with my Kaguya's change in character as per this story's plot! And I hope I didn't make the plan come out forced... That would suck! Anyways, please review! Remember, reviews are what makes us authors gain exp. points and level up to correct our flaws!**

**NOTES: **

**- I believe I may include a glosary of sorts, for whenever a Japanese term or such a reference sneaks into the story. **

**- I'm dying to play a Touhou Project game. Danmaku game's have held my attention for a while now, but I've almost never seen one, let alone play one.**

**- Similarly, my recent obsession with Touhou has led to crazy ideas to pop into existance in my mind whenever I get bored! I want to write a fic for Touhou (Remilia Scarlet rules so DAMN much!), but FF's area of the site is nearly dead! There's barely over 200 stories, with little viewers! That's not right! Touhou is a great Danmaku franchise (with two excellent fighting games)! Would anyone promise to read the fic if I DID write it? Please T_T!**


	6. Filler: PreReunion Interlude

_**A.N:**_

_***A creacking noise is heard, as the lid on a coffin slides to the side. A moan of lament is heard...***_

**Ooooooohhhhhhhh... Guuuuuuesssssssss whoooossssss baaaaaaaack.......!!!!!!!! *Hack, koff!* Hmhm! Ah, that's better! My GOD! It's been TOO long! Way TOO long! I should have updated this before, but I could not for various reasons. I'll list them at the end AN. It's fairly short chapter. In fact, since I've been so hooked on Touhou, most of my ideas span from Touhou, currently. This is, for all intents and purposes, a filler chapter. We're gettng to the good stuff really soon, so please bear with me!**

**DISCLAIMER: I. DO. NOT. OWN. CODE. GEASS!**

**WARNINGS: ...Warnings? This chapter has little to call a warning... Matter of fact, the only warning is to those who don't feel comfortable with an implication of C., which would beget the question: "Why the hell are you reading something like this in the first place? It says C.C. & Lelouch L. rigth there in the story description!"**

**Here goes, Chapter 6!**

* * *

Inside a gigantic cave, illuminated by hundreds of lights, where many steel harbors were all incrusted into the bedrock, there was a small gathering. This cave was the main harbor section, where the _Ikaruga_ docked. _"__**Used**__ to dock."_, was a bitter thought shared by several of the people in the cave. Indeed, for while the mentioned ship was in the harbor, the only thing that ever hinted that the wounded vessel in the harbor was the _Ikaruga _was its general shape… and even that suffered from severe disfigurations all along the hull. Punctures, burn marks, melted steel, missing sections of the hull and busted cables were just examples of the extent of the damage done to it.

Looks like the Gefjun Technology did a real number this time.

A man with an admittedly weird, brown hairdo, held with a red headband, was pacing, frustration evident in his form. Some of the people in the small crowd looked at him in concern, particularly a tanned woman with rare silver-colored hair. Others—Tohdoh and Xingke—were impassive, opting instead to blankly stare at what used to be a perfectly functional flagship. Then there was the red-haired Tamaki, who was spouting off obscenities as he stared at the water beneath them. The rest murmured amongst themselves, either agreeing with Tamaki or just cursing beneath their breath.

"What. The. Fuck. What the **fuck** happened here?! How the **hell** did something like **this** happen?! We're the fucking Black Knights! Who the **fuck** do they think they are, whoever did this?! Who has the balls to--!" **"SHUP UP!"**

Instantly, the group fell silent, even as the cry echoed throughout the cavern. Notably getting red in the face, Kaname Ohgi ran his hand through his hair in exasperation. Regardless of Tamaki's vocal outrage, he admitted that he was right. Who?! When?! Why?! How?! Those questions all appeared in his mind one after the other, storming him and raising his stress levels well and beyond. He was on the verge of hyperventilating. Such was his fury.

A voice broke the silence, the recognition it provoked in the people indicating the late arrival's presence. "Let me guess what your simple mind is thinking. Who did this?! I dunno, but I don't doubt it was an inside job. When, or since when?! To that, I'd say it has been planned in advance, although that much should be obvious. Tch. Why? Now that's a tricky one. It depends on the person who did it. Lastly, you ask yourself, _"How?!"_, and there you have my reason for even coming to this meeting."

The voice's owner was Rakshata Chawla, a tall, long blonde-haired woman with tan skin. With trademark smoking pipe in hand, the Indian scientist reached the group, smoking a bit before releasing it in a puff of smoke. She looked at the _Ikaruga_ forlornly, face turning into an almost sad expression. "The "how" is answered as such; the ordinance used to down the _Ikaruga_was Gefjun ordinance—my ordinance." Ignoring the gasps of shock and surprise, she continued. "Those green spheres you saw were the medium by which the Gefjun disturber waves acted, spreading to annihilate any electronic device in the ship. For the ordinance itself, it was a new, experimental Gefjun weapons system that we had been working on. We had a prototype ready, alongside compact bombs which had the same, albeit weaker, effect. It was the bombs that did the deed." Ending the explanation, she returned to smoking some more.

As everyone digested the information, Nagisa Chiba spoke up after a few minutes. "So… What you're saying is, somebody snuck into the R&D section, stole the bombs, set them up around the _Ikaruga_, and then blew them?" She stared directly at the scientists, even as several others looked at her. For her part, Rakshata let out a grimace.

"It wasn't just the bombs. The prototype was stolen as well, alongside the binder containing the complete information regarding the weapon. With the prototype, the reports and the blueprints, our enemy, whoever it was, just needs a reliable source to procure materials, income and personnel to replicate it. When such thing happens, well, let's just say we'll be knees-deep in donkey shit." The seemingly nonchalant way in which she ended left many sweating. Rakshata was **never**this pessimistic. Ohgi grimaced, but felt the need to ask anyway.

"What exactly, does the prototype do?"

Raising an eyebrow, she answered. "Let's make it short. Basically, it creates a concentration of Gefjun waves in a single space. Via certain, controlled processes, the space acts as a vacuum for a subliminal radiation signal, which eventually causes destabilization and molecular collapse, creating a chain reaction in which the Gefjun waves are released outwardly with great force. As added bonuses over previous Gefjun ordinance, these possess much greater range and are self-sustaining. They even overcome current Gefjun countermeasures to boot."

Hesitantly, Ohgi asked. "What do you mean by "self-sustaining"?"

"Ah." And with that, the man knew he was not going to like the answer. "Curious, isn't it? Original Gefjun ordinance required considerable amounts of energy in order to keep functioning. Our best use of it was by Zero, who had it installed to a train that went through the entire Settlement, using the train's battery rather than the internal one to function. We based the concept slightly on that tactic.

Using an electromagnetic phenomenon we noticed between the Gefjun wave radiation experiments and left-over sakuradite energy expelled into the air, we theorized that we could work the weapon around the idea that it could make use of that unused energy in order to sustain and power itself, increasing in strength and size as it progressively impaired any technology within its effective range, to the point were short-circuiting and severe malfunctions would initiate a chain destruction of the enemy's systems. Thus, we titled it the Expansive Gefjun Field Module. A true work of art, if I do say so myself."

The following silence was deafening, or it would have been, had that phrase not been an oxymoron to begin with. With much apprehension showing in their faces, many began to feel dread. A weapon that powerful in enemy hands?! The sentiments, at least, were clearly mirrored in the brown-haired man's face.

"A weapon of _that_magnitude…" "Yes?" Rakshata was not sure where he was going with this.

"All of it, completely in enemy hands?" "Yes…?"

"…" _Now_he was hyperventilating, teetering on the brink of nervous breakdown. Luckily, his Britannian lover, Villeta, came to his side and tried her best to calm him down. She succeeded, for the most part. She should have done so more discreetly, however, as evidenced by the nasty glares she received from several members. One in particular was murmuring things like these.

"Great., just great. It's one disaster after another! The city's bombed, Zero is dead, Britannia has a new Emperor, the _Ikaruga_'s in shambles, Major Kouzuki and Lady Sumeragi are missing alongside several Black Knight members, and now a prototype superweapon falls to the enemy's control. What comes next? A monkey coming out of my ass?"

His mumblings went mostly unnoticed, for the exception of two key members. Tohdoh and Li Xingke looked at each other, eyes narrowed. Kouzuki and Sumeragi **both** missing? The Chinese whispered to the other.

"I smell foul play."

"As do I."

With mutual nods, the two resolved to look into the matter later, opting to once again watch as the silverette proved to be the one with the pants in the relationship.

* * *

"…And that's what happened." And with her explanation done, Kallen allowed herself to lean back in the comfortable passenger's seat she had taken when they boarded the _Crane._It had been exhausting, but she'd eventually been able to explain to Nina how they came upon the airport. Of course, she also had to explain to her quite a few other things—namely her being a Black Knight, and how she and Kaguya ended up in the situation they were in now in the first place.

Turns out, Kallen chose a secluded spot nearby the Ashford Academy to change the battery of the Guren. Using its incredible speed together with some crafty maneuvering, she managed to land in the forest with no one to see them. Kaguya had decided to inspect the area surrounding them, and came across a pair of men putting boxes inside the trunk of a car. She overheard them muttering about a "private jet", so she rushed to Kallen and informed her of her findings. In no time at all, they were pursuing the vehicle a safe distance away, which eventually led them to the are where the airport was.

Digesting the information, Nina allowed silence to take over for a while. However, she broke the silence soon after. "I see… So, Zero wasn't killed by F.L.E.I.J.A., but was betrayed by the higher ups of the Black Knights… And you two got pissed off and betrayed them in turn when you found out he was still alive?"

"Kaguya did; I knew he was alive. Kaguya convinced me to go along with it, mostly. After a while to meditate however, I… decided I wanted to go and speak with him myself."

"For what?"

Feeling uncomfortable with the topic, the red-head avoided the question. "I'd rather not talk about it… It's complicated." "Complicated" was rather tame, she thought. It was screwed up as hell. _"That's better!"_

Looking down at her feet, Nina let it go. "I understand. I shall not mention it again.

More uncomfortable silence, but this time, Kaguya, who had been quiet, for the most part, spoke up this time. "So, how'd you get a ride on Lulu's jet, huh?" The question seemed innocent enough. For Nina, however, the implications of the sentence caused her head to snap so violently, the other two swore they heard a loud "crack!".

With wide eyes, the green-haired girl stammered. "L-Lulu?! Since w-when is the Supreme Chairwoman of the U.F.N. acquainted with the Emperor on such a personal level?! Only his closest of friends called him that!"

"I'll tell you, if you tell me your story." With a grin, Kaguya knew she had her.

Pausing, the Britannian deliberated. On the one hand, this girl was an Elev-_Japanese_, a race which she still had some trouble trusting in. On the other hand, she was Kallen's friend, and she'd learnt to trust in Kallen's judgment when they used to attend Ashford Academy. Sighing, she pushed up her glasses, which had slid down her nose, with her index finger, before assuming a more comfortable position.

"Very well, it started with…"

* * *

"_Haaaaaa… Lulu sure seems to be enjoying the position of Emperor…" Said the woman, clad in a pristinely white dress._

"_Isn't he? He does seem to be having a rather good time. It also pleases me to see that his friend Suzaku and him made their peace."_

"_Oh that's right! Zaku-kun forgave him! I always forget, but you always remind me! I'm so happy! I wanted to tell him not to blame himself, or Lelouch, but I didn't have the strengths at the time…"_

"_It's ok, I understand. Kururugi is both an outstanding Devicer, and a loyal friend. If I were in Lelouch's position, I'd be relieved to be able to count on him."_

"_But still… It is still so sad…"_

"_What is…?"_

"_Oh, I'm talking about their plan. You know... Zero Requiem."_

"_Oh. That is… Yes, it is truly… regretful."´_

__

"Oh put some more effort into it! Aren't you his brother?!"_  
"__**Half**__-brother."_

"_So what? I'm his half-sister, and I had a crush on him when we were kids!"_

"_That's different! You… I… W-well, you're a woman!"_

"_So? Since when were you this sexist?"_

"_Argh! That's not what I meant!"_

"_Then what?"_

_But instead of having to answer, the man was saved by the timely intervention of another male, this time younger, voice._

"_Hey, check this out!"_

_The man took advantage of the opportunity, and changed the subject. "Hmm? What is it?"_

_The young woman pouted, and gave him a glare that said "This isn't over yet.". With a gulp, he started for the place where the brunette boy was waving his arms for them. When both reached his side, they all looked down into the crystal-clear water of the lake, which rippled as a part of the water became like a screen, showing them the events happening in a world different from their own. It showed a raven-haired man with stunning violet eyes, clad in white, regal clothes. Almost instantly, the woman swooned as her eyes caught the appearance of the man._

"_Ooooh! Look look!" She exclaimed, much like a child in an amusement park, noted the males, "Isn't he handsome?!" Indeed, the two had to admit, it looked like the designers outdid themselves this time. The 99__th__ Emperor's attire was white and regal, befitting someone as powerful as him. However, they also had a sense of style that seemed to elevate his being not only above the stations of the rest of his peers, but also above what commonly passes as "cool" for most young men these days._

_White clothes, with gold embroidery on the shoulders and the neck line. Three royal purple shawls integrated into the robes, each of varying length, and each adorned with golden lining; the one on the right shoulder was simple, whilst the ones falling from the front of the shoulders had golden linings which seemed assimilate the form of a golden wing, which converged down to surround a crimson jewel. From all three shawls, an emerald jewel hung. What seemed like a belt was at his waist, with more gold and a red jewel, as well as more emeralds hanging from the bottom part, giving it the appearance of an eye. A white shawl hung next to his neck, obscuring the top of the longest shawl. It featured the same wing pattern, with a lighter-toned red jewel, but no emerald._

_To complete the ensemble, the blushing maids aiding him in his dressing, handed him a big, white hat. To better accommodate and support itself, a purple cloth was included, which had one last section of embroidery. Another red jewel, surrounded with gold to form an eye, but the lining formed wings that belonged to the eye alone. On the underside of the hat, four golden arrows aimed at the cardinal points, the one pointing south longer to accommodate the longer rear distance of the hat. From that end hung a small, chain link, which split into two and from them, hung a couple of beautiful, perfectly sculpted amethysts. _

_In short, his attire was befitting someone such as Lelouch; stylish, but grand enough to exalt his position of power. The Emperor was pleased, that was obvious. He was not the only one._

_He was going to go crazy! This crazy woman was babbling at the speed of light about how he was handsome this, mysterious that, dark that! __**OH GOD!**__Blocking his poor ears with both hands, he gritted his teeth, wishing his companion would stop squealing! Luckily for his eardrums, the other male somehow managed to calm her down when he made some sort of lascivious-sounding comment about some homosexual fangirl of hers. Instantly, she shut up with a bright blush on her face._

_Thanking whoever heard his pleas, he turned to address the girl. "Alright, alright we get it. He at least looks the part of an Emperor. Though I will never understand how he has no qualms about sullying his own hands with blood…"_

"_Oh please, don't bring that up…"_

"_Very well, I won't. Anyways, where we're we?" _

_The youngest of the three perked up, and waved to someone coming over to them from the foliage. Another girl, this one looking a bit older than the other young woman, came over to them. The four of them exchanged nods, and sat around the lake to peer into it's depths, and once again, watch over Lelouch. _

_The pink-haired woman and the orangette gave each other smiles, and gushed over how attractive the white-clad man in the image was. On the other side, the young, brunette boy with violet eyes gazed lovingly at the image of his surrogate brother, whilst the blond-haired man gave him a professional once-over, and nodded, pleased, with a small smile on his face. _

* * *

Nodding with approval, very pleased with his appearance, he stepped down from the pedestal even as the maids—who were blushing in his presence, probably due to how good he looked in white—, took steps back and bowed respectfully. His eyes darted to the corner, spotting C.C., Suzaku and Jeremiah, in this order, giving him a side look, a grin and a look of approval.

The maids received their dismissal, and, as a final act to engorge his ego, he flashed them his lady-killer smirk, and nearly laughed as they both began to stammer incoherently, nearly stumbling as they hurriedly left the premises with tomato-red-grade faces. Letting out the smallest snicker, he started towards the open window, looking over the lands once again. The early morning sun was peaking over the horizon, bathing his figure in its radiance, giving his clothes a golden tint.

Enjoying the warmth of the sun and the fresh breeze, he closed his eyes and looked downwards. He mumbled thoughtlessly. "Hmm… It's been a rather busy couple of days, I'd say." Jeremiah and Suzaku both stood a few meters behind him, whilst C.C. once again lied on his bed. All looked at him as he spoke. "I've been crowned as Emperor of Britannia… Anya has been found, and her Geass destroyed… Kallen and Kaguya, somehow, will make their way here… Milly has begun to get the festival and its preparations in motion… And soon after it, war will loom over the horizon…"

Sighing, he asked, "How's Anya? Has she woken up?" Not long after his father's Geass on her was removed, she collapsed, sobbing on his chest. He and C.C. did their best to calm her down. It took a while, but eventually, she cried herself to sleep. She'd been asleep in the medical bay ever since then, looking miserable, but sleeping peacefully.

"She has shown signs of waking up sometime soon, but the doctors are not sure when. Perhaps today, perhaps tomorrow." This was Jeremiah reporting. But he still had one piece of information to give his Lord, and he was a bit hesitant to mention it. Getting a look from C.C. and a nod from Suzaku, he decided to share it with the Emperor. "However…"

Raising an eyebrow, he half-turned his head to look towards the sound of the green-haired man's voice, eyes still closed. "However…?"

He took a deep breath. "However, there is one other thing that the doctors reported. It regards Anya's body." Getting a nod to continue, he informed rather surprising news, "It would seem that, due to some unknown effect taking place in her body, she has begun to mature, developing a figure to match her age more. Since she's around 16, the doctors theorized she was just a "late bloomer", and was finally entering her puberty. It goes without saying that they are not aware of the existence of Geass, which everyone here knows that that is quite likely the real cause for the sudden development. Why, though…"

He looked up, and noticed he had Lelouch's attention, but he quickly looked towards C.C. Sighing, the green-haired immortal gave her theory. "Let's see… Well, my guess would be that Charles's Geass not only repressed her memory and information-retaining ability, but also, her genetic memory." She had an audience, she knew, so she elaborated. "Look at it this way; when a human wakes up the next day, they always look forward to a productive day, if only subconsciously. From the events of that day, a human experiences life, obtaining information and knowledge, maturing and becoming a little bit wiser. Those experiences become memories; important memories that help them grow as humans and as living beings. When you have no memories, you cannot grow, for if you do not learn, how you can you develop? If you do not mature, how can you face life as an adult? If you remember little of whom you are, or never move past a certain point of being in one's mind, then your own body cannot create a life for an adult version of yourself."

Looking forlorn, she expressed. "…In such a case, you are, in essence, stuck. Stuck between the border of childhood and maturity." And now looking at Lelouch's eyes, she finished her explanation. "Our body is not entirely controlled by our will, you know that. If you feel quick, intense pain, your bodywill react to it, not you. And so goes for our genetics. They, too, grow and develop with our maturing. They, too, experience a change in memory with experience. It is that genetic memory that helps one grow physically. Anya's psyche, thus, suffered from Charles's Geass, which had a severe effect on her memory, followed quickly by Marianne's Geass partially rewriting her own DNA and affecting her state of being, in order to inhabit her body. My only way to answer your question is as such; that the destruction of the memory-repressing Geass, and Marianne leaving her body, had finally allowed her body to grow, using the combined experiences of nothing less than 9 years worth of memories."

She took a few, deep breaths. That was a mouthful!

"Hmmm." Was all Lelouch could say. He looked to be in deep thought, so the witch merely did what she did best; pick up a phone, and order more pizza.

For Suzaku's part, he now felt incredible pity for Anya. Sure, he felt some when she mentioned of her memory problems, but nothing compared to now. This was a whole new level. Forming a fist, he resolved to help her adapt to her new memories. Of course, he'd also force Lelouch to help him; no way was he dealing with a matured Anya alone—who knew what her new hormones would do to her!

And Jeremiah, lowered his head. Offering condolences in his mind was all he felt he could do at the moment. When he was done, he saw Lelouch had done thinking, so he stood up straighter, awaiting command like a perfect soldier.

"She must have had it rough, no doubt about that. I can only imagine how traumatic the whole ordeal would be for her, especially with the rush of memories. Perhaps… I could… Yes, that would be appropriate…"Thought Lelouch. Nodding to himself, he lightly clapped his hands. Addressing Jeremiah, he gave his command. "Jeremiah, I want you to order the remodeling of one of the rooms closest to my quarters. As a token of my gratitude for her cooperation, as well as a gift of me in order to express my condolences, I wish to give the newly re-instated Knight of the Round, Anya Aelstreim, one of the best lodgings available on this side of the Earth. Make sure to have the designs pleasing to the tastes of a woman of her caliber. I am sure that her colleague, Knight Kururugi, would be willing to assist in that regard…?"

Grinning at his friend's plan, the Japanese man quickly bowed, recognizing the command, an action mirrored by Jeremiah. "Yes, my lord!" Both gave nods to Lelouch, before leaving in high spirits. Chuckling he turned and walked to his bed, sitting on it. He removed the hat from his head, placing it on a table to the side. He turned his head, but did not see C.C. Before he could wonder where she was, he felt another weight settle on the bed next to him, and turned to see C.C. regarding him with a curious look. She shrugged before lying back, arms spread, lazily kicking off her boots.

He gave her an incredulous look. The Emperor sometimes was amazed at how lazy she could sometimes. He pointed this out. "Well, what did you expect? I am C.C., after all." Her smile was sly.

He shrugged, half-heartedly sighing. "Witch. What will I do with you?" He settled for doing as she did, lying back, with his hands behind his head. Closing his eyes, he thought he may finally catch some sleep. Nearly flipping out when he heard the news of the new passengers picked up by his jet was pretty tiring after all. He was just about to reach that promised land of dreams, when he felt a weight on him. Opening his left eye, he spotted C.C., with a blank look on her face, laying her head on his shoulder, lightly leaning her body into his. Her eyes swiveled to look at his. Silence followed.

With a shrug, he closed his eyes again, but shifted himself slightly so she'd be more comfortable. She imitated his actions, and both slept peacefully, half-snuggling together.

No words were needed to be exchanged between the two of them. Such was how close their partnership was.

* * *

**A.N: So that's that. Short, wasn't it? It's my way to say "Sorry!" as well as advance the story a little. I've been fairly short of ideas. Also, the reasons why I had this one coming late:**

**A) I've been sick. Like, sick enough to be prevented from going to school for 3 days straight. While this provided me with time to relax (as we actually did little in that time), this also contributed to my procastination of this work. I won't be surprised if someone is dissapointed in me; I know I'd be.**

**B) Simple procastination. Can do wonderfully negative things to your plans; for example, getting a longer, better written chapter posted faster.**

**C) Pokémon: SoulSilver. Well, what can I say? It's a good way to pass the time... And Voltorb Flip is so damn entertaining, I've devised a good strategy to win at it consistently.**

**D) Main reason: Touhou Project, a series of Danmaku (traduc: Bullet Hell) games for PCs. Extremely addictive in nature. Features a prominent cast of lolis. Has a crazy addictive gameplay. An fun fighting spin-off. Super addictive gameplay. Very hard, but also very satisfying and challenging. Did I say it's addictive... Yes, I did, and you get the point. I love it. To death.**

**So much in fact, that the poll currently displayed in my profile asks to anyone who reads my fics: "Would you read it if I wrote a fic for it?". 'Cause I have some VERY crazy ideas surrounding my favorite character, Remilia Scarlet. She's the reason vampires are now amongst my favourite ficticious creatures.**

**So that's pretty much it... I'll try to write the 7th chapter ahead of time... and maybe get started on that Touhou one I want to do... Hell, I may even crossover it to Code Geass! That'd be a first! **

**A yes, I forgot. About that description of Lelouch's Emperor attire, I've always wanted to describe it. It just looks relly cool on him. Also, I believe he never wore a hat like that in the anime, becaus if so, here's the link for where I got the hat design from. It's also, believe it or not, the reason I even started this fic in the first place.**

**http: // anime . desktopnexus . com / wallpaper / 100013 /**

**Just remove the spaces. Alternatively, since I don't really trust in providing links like this, go to desktopnexus (Google it I'd say), type "Code Geass" in the search box on the upper right corner, and jump to no less than page 7. **

**I can only say this last things. Please, review, and if you want, participate in my poll. Even though we all know I will include Touhou at some point in my repertoire, I'd rather have the consent of my readers.**

**Puny Challenge: Guess who the four people on the section purely written in italics are.**

**_All this time, Lelouch remained unaware of the support he was being given in the afterlife. Regardless of this, they would never abandon him. He'd already had enough of that to last a lifetime._**


	7. Henkan Tame Ato Kashoku no Iiki

**A.N: Chapter 7 is done! And here it is, I present it to you! MAN, after the filler chapter of 6, I thought my creativity had died for sure! Am I glad to be wrong XD.**

**Well, here it is. It took me some effort in this one, since ideas barely came to me, but by including a certain few characters... Well, things went by much more smoothly. I've also done it; I have finally begun my incursion into the Touhou fanfiction aspect. As they say, start small; what better way to start small than to make a passing reference of it? That reference will be explained later, but suffice to say, will work to boost the relationship between Anya and Lelouch. For those who know of its characters, just you wait. For those who don't, find images of them (Touhou Wikia seems a good place), but I'd much rather you read them from me; makes me feel special somehow n_n.**

**Anyways, let's get the essentials out of the way...**

**DISCLAIMER: I do not own Code Geass, its plot, characters or locations. I do not own Touhou Project no matter how small the reference. CG belongs to Sunrise. TP to Team Shanghai Alice (ZUN). I merely borrow from in order to provide entertainment. So, please lawyers, no hate for me, alright?**

**Warnings: Slightly suggestive mentions, caste system usage, a character's redemption (which you may or may not hate) and a MAID! Maids rule! XD.**

**Notes: **

**- I AM SICK AND TIRED OF USING THIS SITE'S LINE BREAKS! THEY ALWAYS MESS ME UP AND MAKE ME WASTE TIME! SO SCREW THEM!**

**-- This is my first chapter in which I use Japanese as chapter title. I'll put the meanings down (as well as a small compendium). If anybody is annoyed, please tell me.**

**--- Lastly, if anybody feels the plot advances too slowly, again, please comment on that.**

**_Anyways, without further ado, let Chapter 7 begin!_**

* * *

With a sigh, Andrew rose from his sitting position, thanking whoever heard his mental prayers. Looking up to the sky, he, and the many, many other soldiers and personnel stationed at the _Crane_'s airport, watched as a black shape, darker than the rest of the dawn sky, rapidly grew bigger as it approached the enclosed area, becoming more and more detailed by the second; signaling thus, the imminent return of the _Black Crane_. Already, technicians and mechanics were mustering their toolboxes and equipment, readying themselves for duty.

Stretching, getting some kinks out of his body, he turned towards his squad. Amy was visibly impatient, tapping her foot against the ground. Jeff looked as bored as one can be when looking in a mirror. Claire and Sam where cuddling with one another, the sickeningly sweet display of love they always put up whenever they had the time for all to see. They were blissfully ignorant of the approaching aircraft. He shook his head. Leave it to them to make fools of themselves when not on duty. _"Oh wait."_, he thought, slapping his hand against his brow, _"We ARE on duty."_

He noticed his action caused the short haired blond girl to look at him strangely. He simply signaled Amy to the couple. Following his finger, she understood, and sneaking a glance at the heavens, she, too, hit her brow with her palm. He cleared his throat to get their attention, successfully I might add; and out of their thoughts the other three squad members were.

"Well, listen up team. As you can see,—or rather, _would_ see, if you took the time to look up—the _Black Crane_ is about to land on the runway. This means that we have to be on the lookout for anything suspicious; can't let anyone into the perimeter after all. According to information supplied to us from the pilots themselves, they actually picked up extra passengers aside from the original guest they were sent for. Apparently, they are people that His Imperial Majesty holds within his graces, so that means that they are extremely important. If even a hair is out of place when the Emperor sees them, he'll have our heads. So in short, we are to provide an escort for the Royal Guests, so that they may reach our Emperor safely. Any questions?"

Jeff raised his hand, so Andrew motioned for him to speak. "Yeah, I got one. Well, more like two. Are any of the passengers female?" Raising his eyebrow at the strange question, Andrew nodded. Jeff smirked. "And… are they fair game? You know… maybe the Emperor won't mind if I make a move on one…" Of course, once Amy registered his words, she made sure to silence him with a hard elbow to the ribs, and was rewarded with a satisfying "Ouch!".

The team's captain groaned in disdain. Why did he let Jeff open his big mouth again? With a sigh, he retorted, "Damn it Jeff! Was that supposed to be a rhetorical question? Even if it was, the answer is the same. The answer is a big, fat NO! NO, you CANNOT make a move on one of them! Have you forgotten?! They're guests of our Emperor! A single complain from them, and you're as good as dead! Not just you in fact! ALL of us! Use the head that's on your shoulders for once! For Eowyn's sake!" A vein was threatening to pop on his head, so Claire and Sam tried their best to calm him down. A trying task indeed, when he got into one of his Jeff-induced anger fits. He was heaving with fury, and was barely showing signs of calming down. The couple led him away, so Amy gladly took up the task of chewing out Jeff.

It goes without saying that, at this point, Jeff had been reduced to a depressed figure twiddling with the ground with his index finger.

* * *

Leaning back against his bed, sitting on the floor, Kyoshiro let out a sigh. Even as he did, sitting across from him was Li Xingke, who was busy drinking from a cup of green tea. They had decided to meet and discuss about the disappearance of the two rather prominent members of the UFN, Major Kallen Kouzuki and Chairwoman Kaguya Sumeragi, though they'd spent the past ten minutes in silence, Todoh brooding and Xingke drinking tea.

Seeing that Xingke would still spend a while to drink a measly cup of tea (or three), Kyoshiro decided to once again, inspect the temporary lodgings he had been given. Since the Ikaruga had been thoroughly trashed by the Gefjun wave, he, as well as the rest of the Black Knights, had been forced to take up temporal homes in the Tokyo Settlement. Ever since the deal with Schneizel, outright war with the Britannians had been avoided as of now, though tension was still detectable between the Japanese and the Britannians. Oh don't get him wrong; the general populace remained ignorant of the deal. But under the Prince's orders, the Britannian army had refrained from launching any attacks on them. As it stood, the lower ranked Black Knights were in the belief that a ceasefire had been made—which wasn't that far off the truth. But at what price? If they knew about _that_ little detail, he had little doubt that he and Nagisa (and several other people) would all be tied and kneeling before a shooting squad before a day was over.

As it stood, while the betrayal and its full implications were heavy on both of their minds, they were at least grateful to have a roof above their heads. And so, the room that belonged to once-General Kyoshiro Todoh; quite simple in nature, given that the only items worth of mention were a bed, a low table for drinking tea, a dresser containing his clothes; all of which he'd manage to salvage from the _Ikaruga_'s wreckage; and some boxes off to the side, which contained things he considered to be valuable. Everything else was standard fare for a random hotel room in the city that once belonged to the Japanese. Speaking of which, that point brought him some intrigue.

First of all, his mind catalogued the Japanese in different castes, so to speak—he wasn't naïve enough to think that the world couldn't be ruled or viewed with castes in mind, but thankfully he also wasn't stupid enough to believe that all that one needed was to be born into a high class in order to be a capable leader… or be in a position of power in order to command respect, something he, sadly, couldn't say of his current superior.

But back to the point.

Anyways, Kyoshiro's breakdown of the Japanese population could be read as follows, in his analytical and quite sardonic opinion.

_Top caste: The dead. No, seriously. All those who died fighting for the country all died honorably, so they're all really the one's better off. _

_High caste: Members of royal descent, or at least, from ancestral and long living families, as well as those in the highest positions of power. __These would include remarkable people like Kallen Kouzuki and the members of the Six Houses of Kyoto; though it has been about a year now, it really should be the __**member**__ of the __**House**__ of Kyoto… And that's pretty much it, unfortunately_

_Middle caste: The common Japanese citizen, in possession of a job and a home; whether or not it was because of the Honorary Britannian system did not matter. In this caste also fall the great majority of the Black Knights, all of which are not highly enough ranked to know the truth of the night when our deal with Schneizel was made… I guess you could also file half-breeds and our sympathizers in here, though that's mostly because they're not fully Japanese._

_Low caste: Bandits, thugs and thieves, as well as poor people still living in the Ghettos__. _

_Bottom caste: Traitors… Which basically amounts to his once-apprentice, Suzaku Kururugi (though he appears to have redeemed himself), and, sadly, them—the higher ranking Black Knights; himself and Xingke included._

Now, you may be wondering, why would someone as patriotic as Kyoshiro be so willing to separate the Japanese into castes, rather than to refer everyone as his fellow Japanese? Well, firstly, it's the sad truth, really. Second reason is that it helps one become self-conscious; by deliberately getting into the habit of this separation of castes, his mind helps itself to catalogue the most noteworthy of individuals or group of people into recognizable molds; once again, know that he wasn't stupid, thus why he placed himself at the bottom caste. Lastly, because it helps him to orient himself as to where such groups or individuals currently are. Currently, the dead are all in the afterlife. No surprises there. The members of the high caste (or those he felt are the ones who truly belong in it) are missing—though he had no small amount of suspicion that they may be in Britannia. The middle caste was divided; a part of it was all the way back in Horai Island. Another part of it was formed by the lower ranked Black Knights, which all where currently within the settlement. The last part of it where those Japanese who weren't able to leave with the Black Knights. And every single last one of them did not know of what truly transpired during the attack on the Tokyo Settlement. The low caste was simply a group of unremarkable misfits who were all poor or heavily interwoven in crime and violence, who almost all inhabited the ghettos and poorer lands all around Japan.

And then there was, of course, the bottom caste. The bottom of the barrel, the worst of the worst, the lowest of the low, however you want to call them, but they were the absolute worst in Kyoshiro's view. Those of Japan were heavy advocators of honor, and the members of the SDF in particular, all had powerful senses of honor. You can only imagine what someone who follows the way of the samurai, such as Kyoshiro himself, can think of himself when committing betrayal to one's lord. And whilst Kyoshiro wasn't one to put blind faith into something, Zero—Lelouch—proved to him many times over that he was worthy enough of Kyoshiro's loyalty—and most of all, his faith in him.

…It was a wonder he hadn't committed seppuku after the full implications hit him.

"_Oh wait,"_he thought with a grimace, _"That's right. I've still got my duty to Nagisa, as her superior… And Kami knows that the Order will collapse like a set of dominoes without me to help keep it up. Ohgi will make sure of that." _Shaking his head, he simply allowed his head to rest against his bed. He paused. _"…Bed. Not a futon."_ Shaking his head yet again, he huffed.

"Well, you certainly do look stressed." Raising his gaze, it turns out, that Xingke had _finally_ finished with his tea. However, the man was reaching for the teapot over in the corner. Reacting with inhuman speed, Kyoshiro quickly took his sword from the floor next to him, drew it, and placed it firmly above Xingke's hand, which was just about to take the pot, causing him to stop in his movements. Their eyes met, and with a slow negative shake of his head, Kyoshiro warned Xingke of his current course of action. Though he did not seem to be going to back down, Xingke let out a sigh after a while, and withdrew his hand. Likewise, Kyoshiro sheathed his sword.

Now that Xingke was available, Kyoshiro believed that he could finally hold a conversation with someone who could _think_, for once. The anxiety was killing him, so he asked without delay, "Well, Xingke, what do you believe we should do now?"

The Chinese sighed, absentmindedly moving his head to the sides, audible cracks being heard. Crossing his arms, Xingke directed his eyes to the roof above their heads. "I don't really know Todoh. How about we just go over everything again?"

Again. Barely stopping himself from groaning, Todoh figured he'd already gotten tired of this routine, but alas, it was not to be.

Eh? What's that? Again what?

Oh yes, that's right. You, my dear reader, are not in the know, so to speak. Tsk tsk. Let's mend that mistake, shall we?

You see, for the last two days, Todoh and Xingke would always meet to discuss the recent situation of the war. In actuality, their meetings began the night just before the attempted siege of the Tokyo Settlement. That night, they discussed the possibility of the retaking of Japan, in which both agreed that with their tactics, as well as Zero's genius mind, together with the backing of the Chinese to the Black Knights, that the Japanese's long-held dream of liberation had actually become a very real possibility. After the deal was made, they'd simply meet every now and then to exchange respective feelings, but with the recent attack on the _Ikaruga_, they now met quite regularly. In fact, it got to the point where the other Black Knights began to think the two of them were friends rather than simply comrades.

But that was mere foolish thinking!

Regardless, just recently, they'd discuss about how they should carry on with their modus operandi. Since they were supposedly in a cease-fire with the Britannians, all they did nowadays was sit and drink tea, talk, spend time in silence, go for the occasional walk, read a book, practice their swordplay (which **did** get some spectators; they were just **that** good), or perform maintenance on their Knightmares (which for some miraculous reason that he would always be grateful for, had somehow survived the Gefjun waves, even if they were still currently in repair; the inner machinations did get fried after all), or simply go over a report for the ninth time… As well as the basic necessities.

In short, life for Li Xingke and Kyoshiro Todoh had become _boring_.

Simply put, with the _Ikaruga_—and everything within it destroyed, burnt or simply rendered non-operational—out of commission, perhaps permanently, the Black Knights had been completely grounded, frozen cold on their tracks because of a single individual setting up bombs on their ship. There was no way for them to perform much activity, since they were almost 100% focused on repairing their equipment; if they were to ever be able to hope to use the ship once more, then much effort would go into the rebuilding of their flagship. A lot of if would have to be completely remade, whilst other sections would simply need new tapestry and furniture; the damage had been extensive, but irregularly distributed, along the ship. Most of their Knightmares were now useless, permanently disabled because of extreme damage to their structures, their computers and the cores themselves; though some which had been stationed outside the ship at various locations had survived.

But regardless of that, they were simply bored out of their minds, the activities which had held a great deal of importance and time in their lives denied to their access. As much as it unnerved him to admit it (or even recognize it), Kyoshiro realized that he had become a man of war; nearly every moment of his life since he joined the JSDF had been filled with tension, expectation, and most of all, the rush of battle; He loved the rush of battle, the feeling of charging into the fray alongside his comrades, slay the nation's enemies and return to their people bearing banners of glory. He had grown addicted to that feeling; a feeling that he'd managed to tame when Japan was conquered. But now that he was left with nothing to do, that feeling was becoming stronger everyday.

Kyoshiro needed something to occupy his time, or he'd go crazy. Thankfully, Xingke felt the same, and so they currently possessed two main methods to vent their boredom; duke it out in a one-on-one, man-to-man swordfight (which currently stood at Kyoshiro: 5, Xingke: 4), and review their most recently miserable strike of luck.

With a sigh, Kyoshiro blocked his sigh with his hand. "What's there to go over again Xingke? We've talked about this a dozen times already."

"Yes, I know, but I still believe that we're not getting the big picture of things."

"That much, I know; you and I are missing an important piece, but as you know, we currently lack the means to find it. We're rooted to where we are, and we've got little ways to no ways of getting that information; besides we've gone over this already. Have you forgotten already? _"And thus, we enter a redundant vicious circle in which you ask to semantically decipher this mystery, and where I will simply resist and refute any reiteration of such a fruitless activity."_".

…And bam! The hammer fell. With a shake of his head, Xingke, crossed his arms and looked to the side. "I **know** that, but if we don't find that little piece of missing information, then we won't be figuring or sorting out this whole mess."

Now it was Kyoshiro's turn to shake his head. "Xingke… You and I know very well that this mess is pretty much the result of betraying Zero, I mean after the bombing that much should have been obvious. With the _Ikaruga _down, we're basically stranded here. And as for that matter, the only way I can think of getting it would be from…"

Silence dominated the room, and both looked at each other with strong, unreadable faces. The implications of the once-general's words were not lost on either of them. Xingke grimaced, and broke the silence. "…Schneizel!" He spat, the name coming out as if were venom; technically speaking, he **was** venom to anyone unfortunate enough to be on his opponent's side. "Forget it! I am **not** going to bow my head to that two-faced schemer! I'd rather they fill my being full of bullets than to show submission to that Britannian prince!"

Remaining calm in front of this outburst, Kyoshiro used his hands to signal for the man in front of him to calm down. "Alright, alright, just sit back down. There are two things wrong with your statement. First, I never said that you **had** to go to that accursed prince for any way to obtain the information. Two, I said possible way; because, when you stop and think about it, what can he know of who did it? The only way would be that he himself ordered the bombing, but since he apparently has need of us, I find that highly doubtful…"

And with another sigh (_"Damn, I sure am doing that a lot lately."_), he leant back, "…You know what, I don't care. Let's just go over the incident again.", and gave up.

Silently grinning in victory, Xingke incorporated, and adopted a more serious disposition. "Very well. First, the days before the incident. When you were going about your day, did you notice anything out of order?"

Todoh shook his head. "No. Other than the usual mob of fangirls after me, the occasional fanboy asking for my autographs or simply my daily life, nothing truly abnormal happened that day."

Xingke shot him a look. "…Damn, still after you eh?" , shaking his head, he figured he was one to talk; he had to deal with the same problems occasionally, though on a much lesser scale. "Well, on my end, I didn't see anything strange either… Wait." Raising his eyebrow, Todoh wondered what caused the Chinese man to pause. This one was new… And with a start, Xingke looked as if he had discovered something. "Wait, Todoh, there was **one** thing I did not find to be within the realm of the Black Knights' daily life… You see, one day, I happened to spot Lady Kaguya going towards Major Kouzuki's room…"

"So? It is know that the two of them are in good terms, so that shouldn't come off as surprising."

"Take a minute to think; Lady Kaguya loved Zero. It was as clear as the most perfect of crystals. And everyone here knows of how she stormed straight for her room and didn't come out for quite a while, crying all the way. Don't you find it strange? She is not the type of person to be used to lose someone as important as Zero to her and recover so quickly… and then there's the fact that she heard about the unusual activity in Kamine. And she's going over to Kouzuki, who is reputedly one of the most loyal and dedicated to Zero in the entirety of the Black Knights. Kouzuki was there when we were about to execute Zero. The idiot Ohgi, I heard, told something that left Lady Kaguya stunned. Then, there's the day of the incident. Lady Kaguya left for the Settlement in order to pray for the dead in Shinjuku, but shouldn't she rather be praying for Zero rather than people she didn't know? Major Kouzuki was the last person to sortie from the _Ikaruga _that day, managing to reach a distance that was a ways of the maximum efficient range of the Gefjun wave. And lastly, the scientists confirmed the bombs' disappearance to be the day prior, a day or two after I spotted Lady Kaguya going to speak with Kouzuki. With all of this in mind, would you care to guess where I'm going with this?"

As his words registered in his mind, Todoh slowly began to sit up straighter, a growing look of realization forming on his face as the information assembled itself, like a self-solving jigsaw puzzle. "Are… Are you perhaps implying that…?" It couldn't be… But at the same time, it could. Xingke's revelation had made a possible scenario very apparent. They did have suspicions about Kaguya and Kouzuki, but now that Xingke had figured out this much…

"Major Kouzuki and Lady Kaguya…?"

Xingke met Kyoshiro's eyes with a nod, and just like that, a somber mood took over the whole room.

* * *

_In a place which consisted of a white, open void of nothingness, a couple stood in the space. Two women; one tall and slender with long, black hair, and another, shorter and slightly bustier, with lime-green hair. The two were staring off into the space, though both seemed to currently be in a conversation__…_

"…_So? What is the matter, C.C.? When do you plan to tell Lelouch of my existence?"_

"_Shut up, Marianne. When I wake up, I figure."_

"_Hmm? Well aren't you moody today."_

"_Shut up. What did you call me here for anyway?"_

"_Oh? __Well, that is because you've acting strangely lately. You're being awfully lazy lately… You don't even seem to want to tease Lelouch much as well… You're even complying with his requests readily… And then there's… Oh my! C.C., you… Is it possible? C-Could it be that you…?"_

"_Don't say it."_

"_It can't be… But it seems most likely that…"_

"_I said, "don't say it"!"_

"…_you have…"_

"_God damn it, Marianne—!"_

"…_fallen in love with my son?"_

"…"

"…_I nailed it right in the head, didn't I?"_

"…_What do you know about love, anyway? You were perfectly willing to sacrifice Lelouch and Nunally to make the Ragnarok Connection work. And it was because of that cold, selfish disposition, that Lelouch saw it fit to banish you and Charles from this physical realm."_

"_Hmp! Well excuse me! I'm not a green-haired witch who's spent well over a decade charming men and women alike with a supernatural power only to forget what love is!"_

"…_Hm. Well, then at least I'm not a black-haired harlot with a bi-polar personality who let a man at least one and a half-feet taller than her bang her from the rear, mainly."_

_  
"How dare you! You…You…You __**bitch!**__ "_

_Their astral manifestations in C.C.'s consciousness stared at each other, Marianne's with rage, C.C.'s with indifference. Just when it seemed that Marianne would attempt to wrestle control of C.C.'s body and "punish" her, Marianne slowly cracked her angry visage, and quite promptly, burst into a fit of childish giggles. C.C. smiled lightly, and as Marianne began to laugh uncontrollably, holding her aching sides even as she began to keel over in laughter, proceeding to roll around in the floor and ending with the classical act of banging the floor as a sign to stop it all, C.C. soon joined her in her merriment, giggling slightly. _

"_Hahahaha…. Ahh… Phew… I haven't laughed so hard in quite a while…"_

"_Hmph. Yes, well, you're still a harlot."_

"_And you're still a witch… But you're __**my**__ witch."_

"_Aren't I supposed to be __**Lelouch**__'s witch?"_

"_Touché."_

"…_!"_

_  
"Ha! Victory is mine!"_

_Groaning, C.C. turned away and walked off into the void. "Goddamnit Marianne!"_

_With more giggles, Marianne watched as C.C. vanished from her sight. Thinking for a moment, she decided to further amuse herself by going to another mind…_

"_Heh. How about speeding things up a little?"_

* * *

"…"

"…"

"…"

"…"

"…"

"…_Damn it! Say something!"_

"…"

"_Oh for Eowyn's sake! What are you so surprised about?!"_

"…"

"_LELOUCH! I swear to Eowyn, I'll tear you a new one if you don't speak!"_

_  
"…The hell are you doing in my dreams again? …No, that's wrong; the HELL are you doing in my nightmares?!"_

_  
"What? Surprised you're old man is still here?"_

"_Yes! I am! I though last time was just a dream!"_

"_Well son, sorry to burst your bubble, but I'm afraid it's real. You are here, as am I, in this big space of nothing, just the two of us. This time, I'm not letting you get away until we talk about some finer points."_

_  
"Oh great." Lelouch shook his head. He'd gone to sleep, snuggled comfortably with C.C., only to wake up in the same place as his last dream was in, in an unknown location, alone save for his blasted father. This was precisely the __**last**__ thing he needed. "Oh alright, whatever. What the hell do you want you old geezer? Scare me in my sleep? Warn me about your spirit haunting me? Curse my eternal soul with your idyllic thoughts of the Ragnarok Connection? Speak up, I've little time to waste."_

_Sighing, the former Emperor simply turned away. He looked tired. "Look, Lelouch, I know I'm not the best father ever, but I honestly loved you and Nunally, loved you like my offspring that you truly are. More than any of the other plus-hundred children I've had with the other concubines. But to us, Marianne, V.V. and me, the Ragnarok Connection was a long-held dream. I mean you have to understand from where I come from; in my youth, I was but one of many princes, as I already told you. In my youth, the position of power symbolized by the throne was ambitioned by many, and none could be trusted, for brothers, sisters, best friends and lovers; everyone would betray each other at the drop of a hat just for the chance to seize that accursed throne. _

_There was only one I could trust. V.V., my brother. He became immortal at quite a young age, acquiring his Geass from a strange, hooded man who took him away for a few months. When he returned without the man, everyone had by then taken him for dead, even me, but he appeared before me when he saw me in despair. He swore that he and I would enter a pact, a pact in which only we and those with which we would extend our pact would be the ones to be confided and trusted in. I accepted that pact. Obtaining my Geass, V.V. promised to help me become Emperor, since he was dead to the world. We were both surprised years later after that, when Marianne Lamperouge and Bismarck Waldstein, the most powerful of the Rounds, appeared before us, and swore to help me in my quest in exchange for their inclusion into the pact which they had overheard us talking about; they too, were tired of a world full of deception. _

_When I took power, V.V. remained by my side secretly, acting as my confidant. Marianne and I fell in love during our years of struggling with the wars for the throne, and so she became my fifth (and favorite) bride, after marrying four other women in various political situations. When we decided to further research the power of Geass, we recruited those who we found worthy of knowing of our power. When we discovered the existence of the relation of Geass to an ancient civilization, we theorized that we could use their relics for a way to create a world where no one would lie._

_It was around that time when C.C. appeared. C.C. surprised us all when she simply showed up one day within our gardens. She said that she felt one like her, V.V., and she came to investigate out of boredom. When we revealed of our plan to her, she expressed interest; another who had grown tired of the illusions humans built around themselves every day. She and Marianne entered a pact of their own, and grew close; by "close", I mean to the point to where they became "friends with benefits", if you know what I mean son." By his son's tick in his left eye, he got the cue that he did. _

_Chuckling he continued, "But you see, everything was going smoothly. __**Too **__smoothly. Obviously, at some point, Fate, cruel mistress that she is, dealt us a disastrous hand with her wicked wings of change; one night, Marianne was called by V.V. to the main hall of the Aries Palace… And you know what, I think after that point, the rest is history."_

"…"

"_Lelouch, don't play silent with me again."_

_Looking to the side, Lelouch sighed. "I know… But I still find it hard to forgive you. Part of me still feels a distant admiration for you, held by my younger self; the admiration for the powerful man you were, the wish to grow strong like you. But that night happened and…" And Lelouch could say no more._

_Charles turned at walked so he stood next to his son. A ripple appeared in the void in front of them, and various scenes began to flash and play in a space opened front of them; Lelouch's memories and encounters. Both watched silently for awhile, until Charles broke the silence once more. "You know son, you and I are very much alike." Lelouch barely showed any sign of hearing, but Charles knew he had his attention. "When we were young, we both held admiration for our fathers. When we were young, our mother's were taken away from us. When we were young, we could only trust in our dearest sibling. When we were young, we both were betrayed by our families; me by my many brothers and sisters, and you by your uncle."_

_Charles looked at Lelouch, who had an unreadable expression. "And the similitude still stretches to this day. You inherited my intellect, and built upon it. You've developed the ruthlessness I had to acquire to reach the throne. You've even, against all hope and chances, arisen from your ashes and taken the throne, with the excellence of a reborn phoenix._

_But that is where they end; you still hold your love for your sister, Nunally, whereas I grew to loathe V.V. after he murdered Marianne. You mustered the destroyed hopes and dreams of a subjugated nation, and formed a mighty army that repeatedly engaged and won against mine. You've obtained a powerful sense of duty, whereas I gave up, grew tired of the world. And most of all, methinks, you still know how to love those closest to you. Indeed, there is one more similitude; you're your father's son indeed, when it comes to women—an absolute charmer, even if you don't try to do it."_

_Closing his eyes, Lelouch stared off into space. "…What's wrong with you? It is not within your nature to offer such praise so freely."_

"_Heheh. Lelouch, this man has grown old. When people age, they almost inherently become wiser. Now that I no longer possess a body of my own, I've spent my time here, in your consciousness. I've had plenty of time to reflect on my life, and after much deliberation, I have to say that, frankly, I'm not happy with it. I realize that I should have been less… cold, per see. Though I still believe that the strong survive and subjugate the weak; it has been nature's will for it be so. Social Darwinism on the level I applied it is wrong; but it is something that reflects upon our society and our world, has reflected since the dawn of man, and will continue to do so…_

…_Unless you do something to change that."_

"…_I am aware of that. I've already taken steps to that end."_

"_The Zero Requiem? Lelouch, do you truly intend to sacrifice your happiness __**again**__ for the sake of a world which will only continue to exist with your name a blot in it's history?_

"…"

_The graying man shook his head. "Clamming up again I see."_

_Both sighed at the same time, paused, looked at each other, and shook their heads again simultaneously, letting out tired chuckles. It was Lelouch's turn to speak. _

"…_So you confirm that you're still alive then?"_

"_I wouldn't exactly call existing within your mind as "alive", but I guess it still counts, so yes, I'm still "alive"."_

"…_Hmm… Tell me then. If you're still here, then is it possible for my mother to be alive as well?"_

"_C.C. was supposed to tell you that, but seems she waited too much, given that you already figured it out."_

_Another sigh, "Got to remember to punish the witch. Perhaps no pizza for a day or two should suffice."_

"_Are you crazy? She'll die of inanition before a day is over."_

"_So? She'll simply revive herself as soon as her bloodhound-like nose detects pizza, and she'll be groveling at my feet for forgiveness."_

"…_Heheheh… Hahahaha… HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!"_

_Lelouch raised an eyebrow even as he turned to look to the chortling man next to him. Charles took a while to come down from his laughter, and even as he spoke, he still had some trouble breathing. "Hehe… Haha… You've __**definitely**__ earned your father's sense of humor."_

"…_So what comes next?"_

"_Well… Do you remember what I mentioned last time you where here?_

"_What? About some link or whatever?"_

"_Yes, that is right. When you banished me, a certain link formed between us; that link is what kept me from disappearing altogether. However, it is still imperfect. Time here passes much faster than in the "real" world, but only while you are not here. Even if you were to leave and return in five minutes, hours would have already passed in here. In order for our link to fully manifest itself, we must enter a pact. Marianne and C.C have been in one for years now, and so their link is powerful. But ours is weak."_

"_This is it__", thought Lelouch. "__The real point of my calling here." __"What would it entail to enter into that pact?"_

"_It is quite simple, really. By accepting the pact and the link, time here will stabilize and synchronize with the "real" world. I will also be able to make a few aesthetic changes here; for my personal comfort you know. A telepathic link will form between us, so that you and I can speak whenever we wish. I will, in exchange, offer you my counsel."_

_With a scoff, Lelouch skeptically looked at his father. "Is that all?"_

_For his part, the 98__th__ Emperor looked apologetic. "I'm sorry, but I can't really do much without a physical body. The least I can do is offer you my advice as a father, a friend and a confidant. There are some things you do not know about politics son, which I can help you with. You won't need any old goats whispering to you about what's best for the Empire and their precious and whatnot. All I ask in exchange is for your pardon."_

"…_First, tell me how to get out of here."_

* * *

…_Wake up…_

…_Anya…_

…_Anya dear, wake up…_

…_Come on…_

…_They are waiting for you…_

"…_?"_

"…_Who… is calling… me…?"_

* * *

_He scratched the back of his head. "So all I really got to do is wish to go back and that's it?"_

_Charles shrugged. "Basically."_

"_Oh well."_

_His father looked uncomfortable. "So… will you accept?"_

_Lelouch looked to what should be the sky, and saw a sliver light shining from above. He shrugged._

"_I guess I can give it a try… Father…"_

_And he vanished._

_Stunned, Charles stayed where he was, unable to comprehend. But slowly, a wide smile formed on his face. _

_  
"Heh. You won't regret it, son" Turning to the void around him, he rubbed his hands together in glee, and cackled. "Now, about this open space…_

_I do believe that it needs a massive redecoration. I __**did**__ always want to try going vacationing to Hawaii, after all…"_

* * *

This was going to _rock!_ _"Oh yes"_, Suzaku thought, _"Anya is in for a surprise when she wakes up!"_

As if _that _wasn't already obvious, Mr. Kururugi.

As a matter of fact, Jeremiah and Suzaku had both been wandering aimlessly for awhile, searching for a maid to give them some directions. This was because: A) Jeremiah had, in truth, never been in this palace before, so he didn't really know his way around the place quite yet, and; B) Suzaku had never heard of any bricklayers living in the palace, nor had he ever seen one entering or leaving the premises at any point he had been in here, so he had, as was his nature, completely forgot about their existence. Based on these two facts, and that Suzaku really was more busy thinking about possible designs for Anya's new lodgings than in leading Jeremiah to an area where maids were likely to be, it was safe to assume, that the two of them were lost.

Fortunately, for readers and the author alike, Jeremiah was quick to rectify this problem, with a bop to the head of the Knight of Zero. Cue the "Ouch!" from Suzaku. "Itai!", Whined Suzaku, holding his head, which by the way, was throbbing quite badly; Jeremiah _was_ a cyborg, after all, "You didn't have to hit me so hard!"

Jeremiah looked quite pleased with the results, idly massaging his fist, not stopping his stride. "Well, Sir Kururugi, was it not you who departed from His Imperial Majesty's presence with much glee at the prospect of doing a favor for your fellow Knight of the Round? Because from where I stand, we've been wandering around the palace looking for… what again?", at Suzaku's look of realization, he nodded, " Exactly. Would you be kind enough so as to guide me to the nearest maid possible?" However, fate would not have that, for she sent her help in the least expected way… possibly.

A maid found them. But not just any maid.

Suzaku was interrupted as he began to formulate a reply, by a voice he hadn't heard in a while. "Please, pardon me.", said an emotionless, though sensual, feminine voice, "You are… Supreme Commander Gottwald and Knight of Zero, Kururugi Suzaku, aren't you? My lords, if I can be of any help, then please make of use of me." This voice belonged to a woman with light medium-purple hair, naturally possessing a figure that put models to shame. She was wearing a white apron, and carried a broom and duster on her hands. She bowed to the two men before her, hair swaying with her motion. Both men in turn, started in surprise at who had spoken to them. It took a bit of effort on Suzaku's part to _**not **_upon his conditioned reply to a person who _used_ to have her status.

Jeremiah had, quite readily might be a good note, abandoned all but the one notion that only those of Marianne's descent would receive his loyalty, so he did not face the same troubles that Suzaku momentarily did. He answered her, in a strong tone, "You are… Guinevere, aren't you?" Indeed, the maid was Guinevere Su Britania, once the first princess in line to the throne, second oldest of the entirety of the late Emperor's progeny. She (along with ALL of her half-siblings) had all become servants of Lelouch ever since he placed his Geass upon them. Where she once was dominating, now she was submissive, ready to please and eager to provide service.

The perfect, Geass-byproduct slave.

Guinevere straightened up, but kept her head bowed to them; a sign of submission. "It is an honor, which I do not deserve, to be recognized by someone of your stature. You are correct, my name is Guinevere. I humbly ask, do you require of my services?"

Suzaku decided to take control from here on, nodding severely, noting the perfectly emotionless way in which her words were uttered; the Geass of Absolute Order was as terrifyingly powerful as ever. "Right. You see, my friend and I were sent, by the direct order of Emperor Lelouch I might add, to look for a company of bricklayers and designers so that we may create new lodgings for a rather important guest. However, I'm afraid we lost our way due to a bit of… debate… over how to fulfill his orders. As such, we ended up here, where you found us. We would like you to direct us to the main reception desk of the palace from here."

Nodding, she started on her orders immediately, going further into the hallway, with the passing comment. "Understood. Please, come with me." Both followed her without a word.

Five minutes into the voyage, Jeremiah broke the silence, speaking to Suzaku. "Why did you reveal some of that information? That was to be our personal mission, you know."

Suzaku didn't seem fazed. "Oh that's simple. She's under Lelouch's Geass. She wouldn't tell a thing about what I told her unless ordered to, right?" The last part was partly aimed at the maid, who nodded in her stride.

"You are correct; if it is your wish, I shall only speak about this matter to you and to the Emperor."

"It is. Don't say a thing. That includes anything the two of us may discuss while we walk… And forget anything you hear, just in case."

"Understood."

The Japanese man turned to Jeremiah, giving him an expectant look. For his part, the Commander shrugged. "Still, once we get to reception, we'll have to determine which construction-dealing company would be the most appropriate for performing work on the palace… And maybe have our Lord place them under his spell."

"Well, Lelouch wouldn't… Actually, he would. And I think I can understand why. It wouldn't do to risk his safety just because one rich Britannian decided to have his men implant bugs in the palace, right?" The knight received a nod.

"Correct. In fact, I wonder why the palace doesn't have its own set of construction workers. We have maids, butlers, gardeners, soldiers, the Royal Guard and a few other people with miscellaneous jobs around here, but no constructors." His tone was suggesting something, that much Suzaku realized. But surely, he couldn't be insinuating that…?

Guinevere spoke up once more, "Construction workers come here rarely, to perform checkups on the structure and stability of the palace. No changes have been made to it, given the flawless design for the grand palace of the Emperor of Britannia. As it would seem, those checkups occurred when you were out in the field during the war, Lord Kururugi. Emperor Charles had discussed ideas of permanently hiring a certain construction company, but ultimately did not. Perhaps Emperor Lelouch would consider hiring it instead."

Blinking, Suzaku rolled the idea around in his head. It… could actually work! Apparently, Jeremiah thought the same, for he had a pensive look on his face, but ultimately nodded. Grinning, he offered his compliments to the maid. "That's… great! Can you tell me what the company's name was?"

Stopping in her stride, Guinevere turned to them, the same emotionless look on her face. "Certainly. Though I believe the Emperor had come across such a company by chance in the beginning, he commented to me one time about how he was rather surprised by it… and thus, decided to let a deal go. If I am not mistaken, it was, surprisingly, Japanese in origin."

"I believe it was called, "Scarlet's Gensokyo". Though why name a company such a name eludes me."

"_That sounds like a company who may deal with a bedroom that a woman could like",_ Suzaku thought.

Scarlet's Land of Fantasy? Sure, why not.

* * *

Groaning, C.C. slowly returned to the land of the living, registering in her mind the absence of her pillow. Slowly opening her eyes, she started as she was intensely stared at by vivid, violet eyes. It was Lelouch.

"Witch,", he said, "We need to talk about a certain woman living in your consciousness."

"…_Crap."_, and C.C. began to sweat.

First of course, she wished that Lelouch would give her a bit more space (he was practically straddling her!)

It was, strangely enough, beginning to feel a little hot in here. And with her half-asleep mind, she could only wonder what the devious, feminine laughter meant in her mind.

* * *

_**(Around the time Suzaku and Jeremiah were talking to Guinevere)**_

…_Anya…_

…_Anya…_

…_Wake up, Anya…_

"…_Why…? …The memories… they hurt…"_

…_Do not mind the memories…_

…_Focus on that which brought you happiness…_

"…_Happiness… I remember… a man… with violet eyes…"_

…_He comforted you, didn't he?..._

…_He is a good man. Do you wish to feel happiness again…?_

"_Y-Yes… I do…"_

_Do you truly?_

"_Yes… I do…"_

_Do you yearn for it? Do you wish to see him again?_

"_Yes… I do!"_

_With him, you will never know sorrow again. With him, you will be forever blissful. Do you wish to be with him?_

"_Yes! I do! I want to! I… I don't want this darkness! I don't want this pain!"_

"_I don't care about these stupid memories! I… I… I wish to… find my light again…"_

_That man holds your light. Lelouch holds your light. Your light is your heart, your soul. Will you give yourself to that light? Surrender your being to the symbol of the king?_

"_Yes! Please! I will! Take me to him! Take me to my light!"_

_Then, my child, take my hand. I will guide you to your light._

_Anya saw a hand, a woman's hand, reach from beyond a radiant wall of light. Her eyes stung, but soon that pain stopped; her hand had been gently taken by the woman. Opening her eyes she saw a familiar, beautiful black-haired woman. She smiled kindly at her, and turned to walk into the horizon, which shone with brilliance. Anya smiled, and followed her, guided by her hand._

"_Let's go, child. They are waiting for you."_

_Anya nodded enthusiastically, "Yes… you're right!" _

_Doing something she wasn't used to, she laughed care-freely. _

_Marianne smiled, at continued walking._

_And Anya returned to the light._

* * *

The assistant sweatdroped. "Uh… doctor?"

"Hmm…? What is it?"

Turning from the monitor, the assistant informed. "Eh… Patient Anya Aelstreim… Heh… She's waking up, sir."

"What?! So quickly? Bu the diagnostics assumed she'd take a few more days to wake up!"

"I'm sorry sir, but it says right here that her neuronal and cardiovascular activity is increasing. She's waking up."

"…Well what the hell are we waiting for? Send a nurse to her room!"

"Sir!"

* * *

Frowning a bit, she slowly felt herself wake up, but did not open her eyes. She felt lightheaded… and weird. As if her body did not belong to her. She also felt slightly tired.

But most of all, she thought as she opened here eyes and saw a nurse enter through the doorway, asking her how she felt.

"_I've returned…"_

"_But, my light… Where are you?"_

Raising a hand to stop the slightly jumpy nurse, she asked.

"Where… Where is he…?"

Looking at the nurse straight in the eyes, she clarified.

"_**Where is my Emperor?"**_

**

* * *

**

**A.N: ...And thus ends this chapter. How was it?**

**Compendium:**

- _**Eowyn: According to the Code Geass background, the story of our world diverges into Code Geass universe at some point before the Napoleonic seige of Spain, or something like that. I'm not all that sure, since I can't be bothered to go back and check, but suffice to say, that Eowyn marked the beginning of the Britannian Empire. Thus, Britannians refer to Eowyn instead of God because in a sense, Eowyn is their funding father.**_

**_- Kami: I forgot if I mentioned this in this chapter, but if I did, know Kami = God, but in my personal opinion, I'd rather they refer to Amaterasu Omikami (she is 10000x better than "Kami" IMO), who is the Sun Goddess and a prominent deity of the Shinto religion._**

**_- Guinevere: Yep, I brought back a minor character who got Geass'd by Lelouch and actually had her fill an useful roleOMG! Hey, she IS hot... And the idea simply popped into existance as I wrote the scene._**

**_- Fate: The "Fate" Charles is referring to is an allusion to my favorite Touhou character._**

**_- Charles: Guess what? Charles has been given another chance! So yes, Charles suddenly becomes good. Problem is, "Good" and "Evil" are two funny concepts; they can exchange roles and prominence quite easily; which basically amounts to me exploiting the fact that if Charles really loves Marianne, then there is no excuse for not spinning that 'round the idea that he may also actually love Lelouch and Nunally. And a Hawaii themed vacational resort is always good incentive for an old man like him._**

**_- Kaguya: I know I've had this mentioned multiple times in the story, that Kaguya loves Zero inconditionally, but it can't be stressed enough; Kaguya is head over heels in love with Zero (Lelouch). That sort of devotion is something you have to respect._**

**_- Swordfighting: So I made Todoh and Xingke duke it out occasionally in swordfighting. Xingke's mean with that thing, so why not Todoh as well? Furthermore, why not have them spar in order to kill time? Hey, works for me._**

**_- Chapter Title: Henkan Tame Ato Iiki no Kashoku: Basically means "Return To A Foreign Land of Bright Light". Know I used an English-Japanese translator, so I'm not all that sure if it's correctlydone 100%, but according to it, Iiki means "Foreign Land", and Kashoku, "Bright Light", and I joined them with "No", which is used to reflect possession (and I believe, given some anime, as a conjuction). The other words, well, I'm not so sure if I used them properly. As for why the title, it's meant to spin around Anya's awakening. The other character interaction is merely there to add flavor._**

**_- Scarlet's Gensokyo: There you go, a Touhou reference! Gensokyo literally means "Land of Illusions" or "Land of Fantasy", and I figured "Fantasy" worked better for the purpose I have in mind for it. Scarlet's Gensokyo is a (not-so-obvious-for-non-Touhou-players) pardoy of my favorite Touhou character's last attack in her debut game, Scarlet Gensokyo. Note the absence of -'s-._**

**_- OCs: The team that's supposed to escort Kallen, Kaguya and Nina will appear a few more times in order to fulfill their role, and afterwards, may only appear to help incite more chaos for our dear Lelouch to deal with (XD). I'm not that hot in the usage of OCs, you see, especially after seeing hundreds of fics where you got a Mary Sue, a Gary Stue, or an OC getting the titular spot AND being paired with a canon character--Hence why Jeff got shot down rather badly. If you want to see Kallen herself (which is my original idea of his target) shoot him down (*cough*beat his ass espectacularly with a combo 5x more violent than the one she dealt Suzaku*cough*), then feel free to reccomend that._**

**_So, that's it. Next chapter will feature the reunion you've been expecting (I hope). Please, review!_**

**_Oh, lastly, I'd like to express my thanks to everyone who took the time to read my story and, especially if, they reviewed it! Please continue enjoying my work!_**


	8. Tomfoolery at the PalacePoor Lulu

**A.N:...Hey. Would you believe me if I told you I had almost this whole chapter on the verge of completion sitting in my computer for _months_ just waiting to be finished? See, the truth is I WAS nearly done with it and was going to post it quickly...but _something_ happened and pretty much the _whole damn thing _got screwed. Kanji appeared over a large amount of what I had written, placed almost randomly everywhere. Hell, the last third of the thing was completely trashed.**

**So in frustration, both at my computer and myself for my unoriginality, gave up on the thing. To be perfectly honest, I then just about gave up on writing. See, being in 5th year of high school wasn't as easy as I thought...then again, it wasn't as hard as I thought either. Ugh, see how my thought procecess are all wonky?**

**Never you mind that. Since I successfully finished the year, I finally got around to correcting the chapter. I also went ahead and changed some things around. You know, I've taken the time to read over my entire fic and I have to say... I'm not pleased with it. Is it just me or do I suck at pacing? No, morever, I feel like I've used far too much kudzu plot. Then again, this fic IS exploited for all it's worth for comedy.**

**Anyway, if you people want an apology... You have my sincerest apologies, for anyone who liked and still likes this fic, for leaving you all hanging on this fic. Seriously, I get distracted _very_ easily by video games, TvTropes, the ocassional anime/manga, school and new ideas popping up in my head. That's probably the reason why I have so many fics that are dying for updates.**

**So yeah. **

**Warnings: This chapter has conspicous amounts of blood used for comedic effect. If you've ever heard of the super-mini-meme "BLOOD SPARK!", well, there you'll get your answer. You people will probably not know about it though. I mean seriously, just how many people form this side of the globe are in the know about Touhou? Honestly, the series needs more l-**

**I'm rambling again.**

**Oh yeah, also, Milly'll be getting quite foxy this time. Get ready for one hell of a suggestive prank, Lulu. And of course, some coarse language.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Code Geass, its characters or its locations. I also do not own Touhou. Both franchises (even if Touhou itself isn't really much in the way of a franchise) belong to their respective creators. I merely borrow from their genius for my own nefarious purposes of self-gratification and canon-defilement.**

**Enjoy! **

**...I hope.**

* * *

- **_The Crown of Love - Chapter 8: Bonding, Glare War III and Foxy Lechery_**

**T**here was a noticeable curiosity and mild hostility directed at the girls that strode at her sides, Kallen noted, and frankly, she supposed it was natural coming from the standard Britannian soldier. After all, the scientist to her left was now considered a wanted war criminal because of her invention known as the F.L.E.I.J.A. Warhead, which the entire world now knew to have nearly decimated the entire Tokyo Settlement, as well as having ended countless lives, Britannian and Japanese alike. Nina had more hostile and warning glances than Kaguya, who was stared at with more curiosity than hostility. After all, the girl had gone on Live TV numerous times in order to make announcements regarding the UFN, so naturally, some would recognize such an important member of the UFN Council.

The fact that she was still considered an Eleven didn't really help. The term still reminded Kallen of the traitorous deal with Schneizel, and honestly, she was sure Schneizel would still have no power to return the Japanese their rights. Those coveted powers were at the Britannian Emperor's fingertips only, which is to say, her Emperor, Lelouch. The thought still brought a smirk to the redhead's face, but she was careful not to let it show. She was, after all, technically not quite home-free.

Why, you ask, if she and Kaguya had managed to board the Black Crane thanks to Nina? Well, it turns out in the time between where we last left off and the time this new installation came to be, they had arrived at the jet's designated landing site. After donning something less revealing, given how her Devicer uniform was tight, form-fitting spandex that, naturally, left little to the imagination regarding her body (and here Kallen was sure that someone, somewhere, had definitely enjoyed their job a little too much), the trio had filed from the jet and into the clearing, to the surprising sight of entire divisions of soldiers and such specialists. Though she initially suspected an ambush of sorts, her fears (and Kaguya's, she noted) were placated when some captains approached and bowed, doing the conditioned Britannian salute, which amused Kallen to no end since she vaguely remembered a time when she too, was saluted in this way. The benefits of kinship.

Learning that this would be their escort, of course, was just the tip of the iceberg when it came to surprises. They were promptly ushered into a luxurious limo, with a soft red tapestry interior, comfortable seats and even a small bar. She had some worries about her beloved Guren, which was currently in the craft's cargo bay (which was, thankfully enough, big enough to contain the massive Knightmare if left in a kneeling position), but she was assured by the plane's staff and some chief technicians (who gave her strange looks when she mentioned it, never mind when they saw her Knightmare) that it would be transported with them to the Emperor's palace.

Finally, the reason that she felt she was not completely safe for the moment was because, if she was recognized as a Britannian noble, she was, much as she was not happy to admit it, in the company of two people whose mere presence was causing discomfort amongst the troops. She had firsthand experience of how trigger-happy some Britannians could be. Though the pilot of the Guren would later come to realize these worries were in truth unfounded, she was still also careful not to act too much like an oppressed Japanese citizen who had partaken in the many skirmishes and battles against the Britannian army as a Black Knight in the hopes of reclaiming the subjugated country.

However, Kallen would not deny that the limo had a damn good drink selection. Which she was unable to indulge in because she felt she had to set a good model for the younger Kaguya. Speaking of which…

Kaguya was currently engaged in a surprisingly pleasant conversation with the green-haired Nina, which Kallen found herself approving of; it seems the scientist had come a long way in overcoming her paranoia of Numbers. Promptly, Kaguya noticed her staring and offered a wide smile before turning back to her conversation with Nina. Amused, Kallen smiled as she looked out the window as the foliage passed them by, listening in to the conversation as the lights of their escorts' vehicles flitted randomly across the darkness of the road.

"As I was saying, Nina-san, we were hoping to obtain a place at the side of the Emperor. If I recall, we explained how we came to where we are right now. Though I think we never specified the full circumstances of our escape, did we? I thought so. Well, I'm sure you know of the Black Knight's Ikaruga, yes? Then you'll be surprised to find that we have put the Order out of commission. Yes, the entire order."

"But how? The Ikaruga is like a flying fortress which housed hundreds of Black Knights, and I am sure that there were more stationed outside of it. How could just the two of you cripple the Order?"

"Well, the original idea was just to sneak off after sabotaging the ship, but Kallen here was lucky enough to learn some interesting information that not only increased our chances of success, but also impaired the Order," Kallen turned well before the mention of her name, because Kaguya had giggled in a vaguely malicious and mischievous way when she stared speaking. Kaguya turned her emerald eyes to her, and expression expecting, she continued, "Well, Kallen?"

Kallen offered a small smirk, "Lady Kaguya, you've changed, and I can't say I don't like the change," she said as she settled into a more comfortable position, "What we did was, simply put, destroy the ship. I snuck into the labs when everyone was out and stole experimental technology that improved upon Rakshata Chawla's Gefjun Disturber. We used the portable bomb versions and I planted them across the ship. I'm sure you felt the tremor that the Ikaruga caused when it crashed. I left in the Guren on my usual patrols as per the plan, while Lady Kaguya had left some time before in an errand to "pray for the departed" at the Shinjuku Ghetto, both before the detonation. Once the bombs went off, I took out the guards placed with Lady Kaguya. You know how the rest goes."

Nina gave a nod of understanding and looked like she was about to comment when Kallen's expression turned serious and she looked at Kaguya, who was startled.

"Lady Kaguya, I know we talked about this before, but are you sure of this?"

Kaguya sighed, glancing to the side before she looked at Kallen straight in the eyes, speaking with just as much seriousness, "Kallen, please stop. I have made up my mind. No matter what happens, I will stay by Lelouch's side." But Kallen would not give up that easily, however.

"But still," she pressed, "Are you sure? I realize I should be one to talk, but if you side with us, then the Japanese will label you a traitor. Can you live with the fact that all those people who trusted you will hate you? And what about Empress Tianzi? Won't she be alone?" ranted Kallen. She was going to get the answers out of Kaguya and she would not rest until she felt that the younger girl was truly committed to this, that she truly understood what she was committing herself too.

Or so, Kallen thought she'd be breaking some news, but she did not expect Kaguya to let out a small laugh before looking at her with bemused eyes.

"What?" she growled slightly, with a small embarrassed blush.

Kaguya smiled, "Us."

"Huh? the other uttered quite unintelligently, blinking. She vaguely noted how Nina seemed to realize what Kaguya meant, and that bothered her.

Kaguya was grinning now as she said, "You said, "Us,""

She would have asked her to elaborate, but then Kallen remembered just what she said:

_I realize I should be one to speak, but if you side with _**us**_, then the Japanese will label you a traitor._

"I..." she mumbled, a numb realization overcoming her.

"Indeed," Nina confirmed, "You...spoke in a way in which you did not seem to consider yourself a part of the Japanese," she said with small curious frown.

"B-but I..." Kallen stammered, shocked at herself for unconsciously separating herself from the Japanese. But why? "Why did I say that?"

Kaguya sighed, shaking her head, "Kallen. There is nothing bad about the way you spoke."

Kallen disagreed, as expected, "What are you saying? I am Japanese, and so are you! I mean, even when I was born to a Britannian father, I still considered myself a Japanese citizen! I may have acted the role of a noble for my parents, but I still thought of myself as Japanese. I may have betrayed the Order, but I did so for Lelouch, not because I was done with being Japanese. I...I cannot even understand myself anymore." she spoke, almost ranting and trailing off.

"Oh Kallen," let out Kaguya, "I don't think you should worry about that. Now please wait and let me speak!" she said just when Kallen was about to interrupt, "Listen Kallen. Whether you consider yourself Japanese or Britannian is up to you. There is no denying what blood runs through you, but who you are is up to you. Whether you're Kozuki Kallen or Kallen Stadtfeld... You're both and neither, I think. Because I'm sure someone like you wouldn't limit herself to just two dimensions. After all, the two of us are here in Britannia on the way to meet Lelouch."

"Who I am..." mumbled Kallen, "I know that. But, I don't think I—"

"Let's not dwell on that," cut Kaguya with a look between exasperation and mischief, "This is something I learned from Lelouch. It would be best if he was the one who told you."

"What do you mean by that?" questioned Kallen, who had composed herself.

And so Kaguya adopted a look Kallen swore she had only seen before on C.C.'s face, giggling a bit, "Now wouldn't you like to know?"

Groaning, Kallen shook her head and gave up, tossing a glance to the side to see Nina who appeared apologetic. Again, Kallen realized, Nina seemed to catch on to Kaguya's meanings. What was with those two?

The black-haired girl, on the other hand, laughed a bit before leaning back on her seat, "As for your question, my answer will stand; I shall not turn my back to Lelouch. The world can call me anything it wants, but my place is at his side. Not anywhere else. I can deal with the fact that Japan may despise me. It's they who have the problem, not me. The Order of the Black Knights needs Zero. Japan needs Zero. The UFN needs Zero. The world needs him. Or at least, so it was. The Order is little more than a puppet for Schneizel now, and is all but grounded now that we've made our move. The UFN now lacks the support of the Black Knights as a military, and also has lost its most iconic and charismatic figurehead. Honestly, it if wasn't for Lelouch becoming Emperor, Schneizel would have been able to simply move in and secure power. Now what matters most for us is to support Lelouch in any way we can," she said with conviction, holding her steely gaze leveled at the other two.

Kallen nodded, accepting and agreeing with her while Nina appeared surprised and thoughtful.

In the blink of an eye though, Kaguya promptly returned to her usual cheerful disposition. "Besides, the Tianzi will be just fine! After all, Xingke is with her and Todoh will help him if the need arises. So no need to worry, right?"

Kallen blinked, before laughing with the other Japanese, "You're right Lady Kaguya. I'm sorry for getting so angsty all of a sudden," she said with a smile.

"Good!" agreed the other, nodding with finality. She then turned her eyes to look at Nina, who was happy to be mostly silent, "Now! Miss Nina, you said that you were elected as the assistant to the coordinator, Lady...Milliarde Ashford, right?" she said this in a way to indicate she sought confirmation, though even so the girl in question was slightly startled out of her thoughts.

"O-Oh? Oh yes, that's true. Madame President asked me to come with some designs I had made for a device. It would have been used in a previous party of hers, but the idea was eventually forgotten due to various circumstances, mainly time constraints and lack of test subjects. But mostly because Madame President forgot about it because she became fixed on other ideas for her parties," said Nina feeling slightly embarrassed about the explanation.

"_Madame President?_"

"Oh! That's how I refer to her. Is something wrong with it?"

Kaguya shook her head in a negative, "Oh no, no, that's fine. I'm just curious."

"Oh that's just one of her many quirks. She says she will only acknowledge your existence if you refer to her in certain ways. One was Madame President. She told me once she'd prank on you for a whole semester straight if you called her Milliarde, so if you don't call her Madame, then it's just Milly. Well, it's either that or something really tedious like "Our Grand and Exalted Excellence, Supreme Ruler of the Known Universe, Almighty Milly Ashford the Magnanimous Overlady," supplied Kallen as if by memory. Which earned her the stares. She fidgeted nervously, "What?"

Nina really did sweatdrop this time, "You...you actually remembered it..."

Kaguya too, in addition to appearing awed, "Oh, I-I see... So just Milly, right?" she asked Nina, hurriedly directing the focus away from Kallen.

The red-head simply colored to a tone matching her hair, looking at their feet.

"Y-yes, it would be best if you just called her Milly. There is no real need to use the long title. Even for respect though, I'd recommend against calling her by her full name. That is, the last time someone actually referred to Madame President as such, well..." Nina trailed, seeming to go off into a memory, before promptly grasping her cheeks and shaking her head with a blush appearing on her cheeks.

Raising an eyebrow, the green-eyed girl asked, "What happened?"

Nina seemed uncertain, "W-well, you see... The last person who used it did so as a way to joke with her and... I-I'm sorry but I-I dare not speak of the details!" she ended in a rush, becoming flushed again.

Coming back from her earlier humiliation, Kallen looked intrigued; it must have happened when she wasn't present. "Ok, now you've got to tell us what happened."

"Indeed, we won't tell anyone, we swear," agreed Kaguya, both Japanese sticking close and almost leaning into the scientist.

However, Nina denied them, "N-No, please don't. If you want to know, then please ask Madame President herself."

"Oh fine," huffed Kallen, "But can you at least tell us who was it?"

"...It was Lelouch."

"Ah...!" said Kallen, and a strange look came over her face.

"Lelouch?" repeated the surprised Kaguya, before taking note of Kallen hunching over slightly and her shaking shoulders.

"Kallen?"

"*snort* Hahahaha! Hahahahahaha! AHAHAHAHAHAHA!"

"Ah?" exclaimed the other two surprised girls.

"What are you laughing about Kallen?" asked the confused Nina.

"What's there not laugh about? If it was Lelouch, then obviously it was something extremely embarrassing! Now I can't wait to ask her what she did!" cheered Kallen enthusiastically.

Kaguya was curious about this, and asked Nina, "What does she mean?"

"Well, Madame President's pranks are normally in good nature, and she performs her pranks mainly to amuse herself. However, when it comes to Lelouch, she always did everything she could to make it as uncomfortable and embarrassing for him as possible. Also, any especially themed party she did, which occurred more often than you think, was usually built around the idea of making Lelouch squirm. I must say that each and every attempt was more than incredibly successful, if not deeply satisfying and perhaps even therapeutic for her," informed Nina, fondly recalling those days with a smile.

"Haaa...You sound as if you really enjoyed them," guessed Kaguya.

Nina allowed herself a small giggle, "Hehehe, is it that easy to see? You're right though; those days when I was just a student, spending time with the other Student Council members were and are my fondest memories. I always think on them whenever I feel discouraged lately."

"That is nice," Kaguya smiled good naturedly, "This Milly...she sounds like an interesting person. I can't wait to meet her!"

"Yes, well," snorted Kallen, "If my intuition's correct, you two will get along like sisters in a heartbeat."

"Indeed," said Nina, "You seem like a very youthful person, Lady Kaguya. I am sure Madame President will take to you with great ease."

"Ah, that is good!" said Kaguya with glee, "Well, now how about..."

The three girls would spend the next few hours talking and laughing together like normal girls, just three friends spending time together. They would talk about the war, talk about their happier years, talk about themselves as people and of their acquaintances, of the upcoming times and the future.

However, there was a mission imposed on Kaguya by her own self, which was more than just getting along with the devious Ashford girl.

_Milly Ashford...I've no small amount of suspicion of your intention towards Lelouch..._

Her eyes narrowed almost imperceptibly in the middle of laughing at a joke Kallen had made.

_I can't be quite sure until I see you two interact, but I think I'm right. You most likely are in love with my Lelouch, as is Kallen._

She sent a look to the stars with a devious glint in her eyes before turning them back to listen to Nina.

"So if that is true..." went on Nina as she responded to Kallen.

_So if that is true, Miss Ashford..._, continued Kaguya in her thoughts.

_Then there is no way I'm letting this chance pass me by. Lulu, get ready! This will be one St. Valentine's you won't forget!_, she resolved, raising her arms in the air in a way that would show determination. Naturally, she did this as she herself joked outside of her mind as a way to mask her thoughts.

There was no way she would allow Milly Ashford to NOT confess and prevent herself from getting with Lelouch. Or her. Or Kallen. Or C.C.. Sumeragi Kaguya would make sure of that. An Emperor like him needs at his side wives to match his grandeur, was her belief.

And so the limo and its entourage advanced into the night…

* * *

Lelouch's eyebrow twitched. Once. Twice. Thrice for the rule of three his eyebrow went, and by the third one, he had settled for merely staring, in a bizarre mixture of disbelief, confusion, irritation, disappointment and, most above anything else, surprise.

How is it, that when he has Suzaku by his side, it's almost as if he somehow becomes less competent than what he had been when he was against him? Sure, Suzaku was never the sharpest tool in the box, and both knew it, but he had been sure Suzaku (and the up to that point reliable Jeremiah, shocking I know) would have been clearly incapable of failing at such a simple task as going to hire a bricklaying and remodeling company. Because, based on his carefully deliberated and decided criteria, the fact that some redheaded girl with a clear communication and self-esteem problem sporting a devil get-up was the very last thing he expected from a supposedly professional entity, it was clear that somehow and don't you dare ask me how, Suzaku failed horribly. _At making a phone call._

Had it not been for several factors including but not limited to: a giggling C.C (who would not be laughing behind his back when he was actually able to dispense her punishment), that who appeared to be her boss had somehow managed to fall asleep while bent forward, standing, that Suzaku was excitedly spewing bullshit about designs to a strange blond woman with a funny hat that looked like a cross between a cap and party hats, and that lastly, he needed to keep up his composure as Emp—

Actually, screw that last one; He was the goddamn ruler of over half the world. He could do whatever he damn pleased.

And so Lelouch, having reaffirmed this admittedly reasonable belief in his head, nodded in resolution and opened his mouth, ready to express his doubt in this "company's" capacity to reliably express their ability in the endeavor he required them to undertake. And, having presented this plan with all the loquaciousness of someone brought up like the heir to a throne he ended up claiming with quite the audacious flair (and such gratuitous use of arm-twisting while he was at it), he was understandably reduced to an awed, jaw-gaping man when another red-head entered the premises, lugging over her shoulder or dragging behind her, among other things, bound-packs of bricks, bags containing cement, large toolboxes, several bound logs and, dragging this object with a rope tied to her ankle, a freaking statue of a small...winged girl?

Lelouch missed what C.C. did not, a sign hung over the statue that read:

_Absolutely uninteresting sight. Please move along. This statue is most definitely not part of an impossibly unreliable and unlikely-to-present-results plan to put food on the tables of girls with rather developed senses of grandeur. And we're talking big senses of grandeur. We reiterate, absolutely uninteresting sight here; please do not irritate the statue by staring at it more than necessary. Take our word for it. Now please look away, damn it! **(*1)**_

Predictably, C.C. ignored the sign in favor of keeling over in laughter. Lelouch continued gaping and pointedly ignored what he thought was the statue winking at him, the shy red-headed girl decided to settle for quieting and blushing, the blonde woman continued snoring away, Suzaku kept blabbering his mouth at the woman with the weird hat, who looked embarrassed and bored at the same time, the girl dragging the items left for the higher floors, leaving behind a mess for the palace's poor cleaning staff to deal with, and Jeremiah Gottwald, once he was done chatting up the receptionist, sending away Guinevere, eyeing the red-headed workwoman's rather prodigious, bouncing bust and shaking his head in both amusement and exasperation at the gathered people, decided to silently drag away his lord and his the green-haired witch and deal with the situation himself.

Of course, the fact that all three of the remaining present foreign women were quite attractive helped. Though he definitely began to reconsider his course of action when the new, approaching silver-haired woman (who was even more attractive) began to give him quite the evil eye...

Uh... Cut over to Lelouch.

C.C. sighed in relief after laughing so much, her chest heaving while she reached over with a hand to gently grasp Lelouch's jaw and push it up so that she had closed his mouth. That little fly over there must be so disappointed now. Anyways, having the opportunity to take a stroll with the still rather astonished Emperor, the both of them simply wandered down the palace's halls for a while, no definite destination in mind; Lelouch the wanderer, and she, C.C., who would follow him where he went・ wherever it was to be.

Thankfully for C.C.'s nerves, who was by now very concerned by a certain not-quite-dead-yet-not-quite-alive woman's rather suspicious silence as of late, Lelouch chose this time to compose himself, straighten his back, school his expression and place his arms behind his back. And check for his hat. His ensemble wasn't quite what it was (or didn't even feel like it should be) without his hat. His really nice hat. His humongous, almost ridiculous and yet incredibly cool hat. His luxurious empero—You get the idea.

"What's up with you, Lelouch? Even a pollywhale would not be so quiet even if they had lost their mate." **(*2)**

Stop.

"What the hell does that mean? Where the hell did that come from?"

Continue.

"Care to enlighten me, witch, to what a pollywhale is?"

C.C. shrugged, having this same shifty look in her eyes whenever she considered the relevant information unnecessary yet rather amusing in origin, "Just imagine an orca with frog legs."

STOP.

"You know what, I should not have asked."

"Perhaps you shouldn't have."

Continue.

Lelouch seemed to hung his head in tiredness, "I definitely shouldn't. Now I feel depressed."

C.C. tilted her head, "Why?"

The raven-haired man shook his head, simply looking ahead, 的 don稚 know. I just don't feel so good. I think I need some more sleep."

Anya raised her hand as if she were a student in a class, but spoke before being given permission to speak, "Perhaps milord would prefer to return to his royal chambers for a restful sleep? After all, a nation's light such as you need to be in good health for his people. I know a few ways to facilitate sleep if you would need them・

Lelouch nodded his head in accord as she spoke, "Yes... Yes, you're right! I think I'll do just—"

Waaaaaaaaiiiiiit a minute...

...!

"WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE?" Lelouch shouted in surprise after having jumped six feet into the air, retreating behind a pillar next to C.C., who was on the verge of falling into a laughing fit all over again. Anya tilted her head in a way all-too reminiscent of the green-haired woman, though instead of mere intrigue, her gaze was filled with such confusion and innocence, Lelouch couldn't bring himself to keep hiding from her eyes, even as she approached him. It was only too late that he realized why he had the feeling that something was different about the pink-head Knight of the Round that had sworn to enter his service, apart from the fact that she had seemingly fallen into the role with astonishing ease.

For one, she was supposed to be around Nunally" height, not smaller than him by barely one quarter of a head. Two, she was supposed to be quite flat, not curvaceous enough to rival Shirley in the endowment department. Three, she wasn't supposed to be looking at him with enough adoration to put his old fangirls to shame. Or be standing so close to him he could practically feel her breath. And she wasn't supposed to be so scantily clothed either; though he would never tell anyone how the tight medical gown looked good on her figure. And he wasn't expecting her to slowly raiser her arms to him, as if trying to embrace him…

"Errr...wait a minute..." Amidst the Grey Witch's giggles, let's switch over to Suza—on second thought, maybe it would be best if I didn't.

So, yes, Lelouch was in the middle of getting an intimate-looking hug from a voluptuous, hardly-appropriately dressed young woman in the middle of his enormous palace with an uncaring old hag in a young body as a witness. And so it seemed that our raven-haired protagonist would be once more introduced to the wonders of the soft flesh of the fairer sex (naturally, through clothing; I have my dignity to consider, after all!), but, alas for some and who knows if for Lelouch…

"Ah! Miss Aelstreim, there you are!"

...Anya had some company. Specifically, a couple of nurses who looked quite out of breath, and who were looking upon the scene with confusion, embarrassment, envy and several other things that the Emperor would rather not know visible in the pair's eyes. Lelouch himself was unsure as to whether he was disappointed or not, when Anya sighed, clearly in disappointment herself, before putting some distance between the two of them, instead placing her hands upon the middle of her chest, and settling to quietly gaze (longingly?) at him while the two nurses fussed over her. They were simply ignored.

Lelouch took the time to adjust his clothes, running one of his hands down it to smooth wrinkles that were not there while using the other to shush the insufferable witch's mocking laughter. Though C.C. did not quiet at his demand, he was surprised (and pleased) when the pink head began to glare at the lime-haired woman, ostensibly for not respecting his wishes. Taking this as a good sign, he smiled lightly; so perhaps this decision of his also yielded side-benefits.

As he pondered this, the nurses were raining down questions that shall go unanswered onto the now growth-spurted Anya. And as mentioned before, both the Emperor and his "aide" noted how she ignored them in favor of gazing at Lelouch; it was obvious she was waiting for him to say something to her.

Lelouch cleared his throat, and the nurses quieted at once, turning to him and bowing, remaining in the position.

"Anya Aelstreim..." began Lelouch, trying to put up a regal act before deciding that he didn't really care anymore for appearances, then slumped somewhat, sighing heavily and surprising everyone, "...What are you doing here?"

Anya seemed speechless, looking for something to say, but unable to. Wasn't she supposed to be here?

"Now don't give me that look," he said, exasperated, "What I meant was, what are you doing outside your bed? You are supposed to be resting in the medical wing."

At once, Anya went down on one knee and bowed her head. The skirt of her gown hiked up considerably, but Lelouch kept his gaze steady, "My Lord. I had felt the need to come to your side as soon as I could, in case you needed me in some way. Besides, I am unhurt and in good health. I do not require use of the medical wing anymore."

"So says the girl who fainted due to stress some hours ago, quite literally crying herself to sleep," mocked C.C., earning a warning glance from Lelouch, which, again, went ignored.

"But as you can _clearly_ see," the pink-head shot back, "I am fine now."

"You're legs are _trembling_."

"I am merely somewhat unsteady on my feet. It will pass. I assure you it's nothing as bad _your_ balance is after lazing all day instead of heeding milord's words."

"Aelstreim!" yelled Lelouch.

"My, feisty are we? Perhaps someone allowed her newfound position to go to her head. No wonder a buffoon like you had so hard a time keeping her memory in check."

"C.C.!" growled Lelouch."

"Tch," and with that, the green-head looked away with a small frown.

Sighing again, Lelouch directed his speech back to the smug-looking Knight. He frowned at this. "Well, as you can see, I am fine as I am right now too. Therefore I have no real need for you at the moment."

"I see," was all she said, looking rather down.

Lelouch hung his head dejectedly, ignoring the giggling nurses. Damn himself.

"On second thought, I did have some business with you, and there are some things you could help me with as well," no sooner had those words left his lips, the girl had somehow appeared before him in prostration, head touching the floor and expressing her thanks over and over.

Apart from a glare from C.C., a starry-eyed look from Anya, more giggles from the nurses and a "Why me?" look from Lelouch, the succeeding events were inconsequential.

Though they had some mishaps once the subject of Anya's clothing came up. But that is a story for another time...that shall involve discussion about cup sizes and Lelouch's chastity.

Suffice to say Lelouch left the hallway as soon as he could to go talk to someone he'd been meaning to talk to for a while. Unfortunately, the nurses were forced to bear witness to the spectacle that was Glare War III.

Now...now what?

…

...

...

...

...

...

...

Hmmm…

Hrmm…

Hmhm…

…

…

…

...

...

...

(Overly long gag, don't you think?)

…

…

…

...

...

...

Roses are blue, lilies are black and 2 plus 2 equals quack.

...What the fuck?

…

…

…

…

PING! Let's go see Jeremy!

"aghaash fafjes csjeds.. aga shfasg hasfash asdhfa sdghas dghasf ahsdf aashdf ahs fahs agashg ahgha gahga gaga gag agagg," gurgled Jeremiah Gottwald in pain, unable to properly articulate anything remotely resembling coherent human speech due his current and unfortunately very unfortunate situation. A female voice laughed evilly, no one so much as glancing at the spectacle, too busy eyeing the still parroting Kururugi with the blonde with the weird hat, the other blonde still snoozing her (apparent) youth away, and the other red-head still looking at her feet and mumbling things too low for anyone to hear. No one paid attention to the teal-haired man in need.

How...unfortunate.

What happened to him?

He was currently being strangled by a silverette. The same one who had been giving him the death glares.

Why wasn't he fighting back?

She had several knives pressed to his family jewels. And she was strangling him. And he was turning purple. And his sight was turning dark. And he was a chivalrous pervert. And she was cute. And she'd cut his balls in a heartbeat if he so much as did anything other than gargle in pain.

How long did his torture last before finally getting out of there?

No one knew.

How very unfortunate.

In another time and space, a being known as the author would be sweating bullets at this impossibly unforeseen turn of events, but he had no way to express this regret in a greater, more attention-grabbing way without thus invoking a mighty sledgehammer to smite the fourth-wall.

Oh wait. He already did. Chapter 2 was all about that, remember?

...

I think it would be best if that madness stopped here, for the sakes of many involved. Let's go over to someone I'm sure you've been all wondering where she was.

...Just for the record, Jermiah actually only spent about ten more minutes in the grip of man-death before the silverette shrugged, kicked his nuts then left his prone form on the floor.

**K.O! *DING DING!***

* * *

_A surprising amount of time later considering how short that intermission was..._

"Ugh, _where_ is that boy?" groaned C.C., having been looking for the wayward Emperor for well over half an hour. Her current company did **nothing** to make matters less stressful. If anything, they made it **worse.**

"Wowza... This place is...huge doesn't even _begin_ to describe it! Amazing!" squealed the very excited and impressed Kaguya, the girl having taken C.C.'s appearance in stride and assuring her that Lelouch—her Zero—was there.

"No kidding...Man, and _we_ are gonna live here from now on? Talk about..." Kallen wanted to say _gaudy_, because honestly, she had gotten quite used to the life of a soldier that she'd forgotten almost all of the assorted luxury that came with being a noble. Thus she ended up saying, "...er,impressive, yes..."

Though even Kaguya admitted, though to herself, how lame and unbelievable that sounded.

Kallen of course, was completely unsurprised at seeing C.C. greet them at the door when they reached the palace. Maybe it was because she had gotten _quite used_ to that unmistakable deadpan face, the one only C.C. could use to convey more than just outright boredom at the word. Maybe it was because she felt assured she was in the right place. Maybe it was because she'd have to be stupid not to guess the woman would stick to Lelouch like a tick after all they'd been through.

Or maybe it was because she had been hugging her Cheese-kun pillow to herself with one arm while using the other hand to eat pizza, a servant knelt at her side in prostration while he held a pizza box above his head, as if he was offering a sacred object to the heavens.

Really, that was just _so_ C.C, she _had _to comment on it, and warned her confused companions to expect this to be common from the lime-haired woman.

The witch's response?

"Of course. For I am C.C."

Nina was the only one surprised at the reception to the palace. The woman was certainly...unique, to say the least.

Least being her lime-colored hair, of course.

"IIRC, my Emperor said he went to check on the supreme coordinator... Um, Lady Ashford, correct?" said the fifth and last of the entourage, reminding C.C. once more of _her._ She grit her teeth and ignored the net speak she used.

Indeed, too much time blogging _did_ have negative real-life effects.

She smiled.

"Why yes, _Annie dear_, that's _absolutely, _f**a**_b_u_**l**_**o**_**u**_S**L**_Y __**correct!**_" she said with as much fake sweetness she could muster, congratulating Anya the _exact _same, plaque-inducing sugary sweet way Marianne would use with Anya when the girl answered a correct question, when the then-young girl took classes from the late Empress in proper etiquette.

With bolding, italicizing and underlining of the text and all. Oh wait, that's a technical fourth-wall exclusive. Please ignore that bit.

Anya twitched quite visibly, and developed a small eye tick, but otherwise remained silent. But knowing her mannerisms from Marianne's advice, C.C. knew a victory when she saw one. She kept her pride smile to herself.

But couldn't help but let out a small "...Ha!"

Meanwhile, the other three ignored ladies gazed at each other in confusion then regarded the other two with trepidation. If this banter was commonplace, God only knew how Lelouch dealt with it without going insane.

Kallen and Kaguya both resolved then, determination burning in their eyes. They'd have to step up their act to win the war for Lulu's attention!

Nina sweat-dropped, feeling quite awkward left alone by herself in the middle of a love tug-o-war.

* * *

"Haaa..." sighed Milly, idly scribbling notes away on a clipboard while half her mind listened to the various assistants that prattled suggestions, numbers, references, names, dates and all sorts of other information she didn't really care to listen to at the moment. She'd been quite busy brainstorming for ideas that could be easily replicated to scale to the entire Britannian capital, and she'd been at it for hours on end now. She'd missed her lunch, she didn't sleep that well earlier when she napped, she still hadn't had her dinner, and Rivalz was off making a fool of himself with the palace maids. She _knew_ he was making a fool of himself, instead of getting her a snack, because not ten seconds after he left the room she heard the telltale shriek of an indignant woman and the subsequent slap that accompanied it.

"Milady, are you listening?" asked one of the assistants, her tone vaguely annoyed.

"Yes, yes..." said Milly, quite bored.

"...Very well," responded the assistant, sounding quite unconvinced, "Well then, as we were saying..."

Milly would have sighed out loud if she wanted to cause a fuss. Well, she DID want to so she could amuse herself some, but she was still busy thinking and stuff, so she stopped herself from doing so. Really, her job as supreme coordinator for this festival was turning out to be quite a lot less glamorous than she thought. Being cooped up in one room too long was quite stressful for a free spirit such as her.

When she was but a humble (ha!) student council president of a humble (_ha!_) learning institution in a humble (...) conquered nation, and only amused herself with humble (_**HA!**_) parties, she had all the time she wanted to plan and prepare, all the resources available to her, and all the entertainment she personally needed packed in one handsome and quite deceptive package. Time constraints have apparently sapped some of her own creativity, much as she was quite unwilling to believe.

For the festival she had in mind, Milly had planned a multi-stage...tourney, you could call it. The first five days of the festival would be marked with a theme for that day, a theme that would correspond with values found in a relationship. Things like companionship, compatibility, compassion, dedication and trust... Each of the seven days would involve one theme, and all participants—that is, every single person in the capital—would be tested in that value, accumulating points based on tasks and tracked by special devices she'd need Nina to plan about with. At the end of the fifth day, the winners would receive their prize, and be honored to spend the last two days of the festival with the Emperor himself.

As her plan stood, she found it alright, but Milly really wanted to add various touches to spice it up. Unfortunately, despite convincing herself to the contrary, she still felt some fear that Lelouch would not approve and perhaps punish her in some way for crossing a line. This is why she'd kept things as simply as she could for her basic plan before she'd take a risk with more...outrageous ideas.

Then again, she caused her fair share of outrage in her time as a student. The memories just made her smile fondly.

Sighing, Milly placed her clipboard down and made a motion to the men and women to stop.

"...I believe this will be enough for the time being. Let's take a break, alright?" she said, tired.

The gathered people shared some looks between them, quite a lot of them holding skepticism, but since she was quite a lot higher ranked than them at the moment, they agreed and left her alone.

But she could quite hear what comments they muttered under their breaths.

"...Who does she thinks she is..."

"..some vulgar noble fallen from grace..."

"...tival is around the corner and she's wasting time..."

"What was our Lord thinking?"

As the double doors closed, Milly picked a pencil with a very sharp point and promptly threw it with a deft movement of her hand. She got up to stretch, enjoying the sounds of her cracking bones and the feeling of blood flowing through her veins, and idly noticed the pencil she'd thrown had embedded itself on the wooden door. Huh. Must've been some really old or bad wood. Or maybe they're making pencil graphite with something that makes it harder to break than a thick wooden door. Do they even come up with an original idea that doesn't suck anymore?

As she scooped up some of the notes she'd left strewn over a table, she heard the doors open and close, and almost missed the sound of very light footsteps. Indeed, she would have thought herself alone if not for the sound of the doors; this person was sneaky!

Since she had her back turned, she waited until she felt the person stop a few paces behind herself before quickly acting. She threw her stack of papers towards the other person without turning, at the same time stepping forward. When the sound of the intruder's surprise confirmed her success, she coiled a bit then sprung backwards and drop-kicked her "assailant" into a sofa, then jumped and landed on them, using her whole body to keep the unknown person—whom she confirmed to be a man—down.

The man of course struggled against her, but he was pathetic. Did this person seriously think they'd be a match for HER?

"Now now," she said patronizingly, "why don't you tell me who sent you, and for what purpose? You realize you were taking a threatening posture against **me**, Madame Ashford, don't you?"

"Ooof-! Get off, Milly! _I_ sent _myself_ here to see how you were doing! Show your Emperor some respect and **GET OFF, WOMAN!**" shouted the very irate man. Milly blinked, and then realized she was pushing down none other than Emperor Lelouch Vi Britannia himself.

Oops.

"_No, wait!" _Milly thought to herself, a wicked idea forming in her mind, _"This is the__** ~perfect~**__ opportunity, the chance I've been missing on since he left! __**Get ready!**__"_

Lelouch was understandably very confused, and very, _very _afraid, when, instead of obeying him and letting him go while sputtering apologies, Milly _made herself comfortable __**on**__ him_, and leant in, a _very_ foxy grin on her face as she idly twirled a lock of her hair. Her tone was nothing short of seductive.

"Now _now..." _she said sultrily, enjoying the way his face became redder than a tomato. She drew a circle on his chest, "_my_ Emperor, my _Lord, _my _**master**_..." she purred, laughing wickedly in her mind. Lelouch's eyes were bound to pop out of his skull at the rate they were expanding.

"Are you _sure_ you want me off?" she said, pressing herself against him for good measure, and giggling as he seized up immediately, "I'm sure you know by now...Kitty can do _wonderful _things for her stressed _**master...**__" _she went on, the sound of the word "master" making Lelouch shiver quite strongly.

Were she any other person, Lelouch would have used his Geass on her to make the act stop right where it was.

But as we all know, Milly Ashford had all the right tools and techniques to get her way, and so only she would dare to keep on going into ever-more-dangerous territory.

...And be _succeeding. _

"_Time to go in for the kill,_" she thought.

Putting on her most seductive smile, she draped her arm over his shoulder and straddled him properly, running a hand down his chest to stop at his stomach.

She barely stopped herself from grinning madly, which would break her act.

"And, _oh? _What's _**this?**_" she breathily questioned, making a show of massaging his shoulders, "_**Master**_ is **so** stressed out right now, isn't he? Oh, you poor dear! Come now, come to me!" She wrapped both her arms around his neck and left her face inches from his own.

"Come to Kitty, she will _ease_ _away_ all those **nasty thoughts** with her _wonderful_, _**f-u-l-l c-o-n-t-a-c-t magical spells...**_" she whispered, grabbing his hand...

Winked at him, "..._for __**~everything~...**_" and placed his hand on her rear. She didn't mind.

"_Coup d'Grace," _shethought in triumph.

But of course. The end result?

The foundation of the Lelouch Blood Geyser Resorts.

_**All ages permitted, free admission, cheap membership! Only 3 billion dollars now! Members get free tours to the volcanic-grade spurts of our unique geyser tour spot! The only place in the world where the water is true red-blooded male blood! Don't miss the chance to watch the famous Nose Sphinx spurt its special brand oxygenated blood! Rumor has it those who bathe in it will become invincible! Just make sure not to get a leaf stuck on you when you bathe. That would elicit rather...undesirable responses from Fate.(*3)**_

Milly idly wiped the blood off her face, and carefully got off Lelouch. She specially made sure not to step on the world-class boner he was currently sporting. But we reiterate, what red-blooded straight male _wouldn't_ react like that to..._**that?**_

Getting soaked in blood wasn't that bad considering she got another peek at Lelouch, even if through clothing. Did you honestly believe _Milly Ashford _wouldn't _peek_? Shame on you if you did!

Off to the side, she saw her audience (which consisted of Suzaku, Jeremiah, Sayoko, C.C., Anya, Kallen, Kaguya and Nina, who had all arrived at some point in-between the start of the commotion and the end of the..._show)_ staring at the spectacle in various levels of awe, fear, peace, arousal, insecurity, awe and...admiration?

Indeed, while Suzaku and Jeremiah were both quite aroused by the show (if the shit-eating grins were any indication), their reactions were placated by the inner fear they felt for their Lord with all the blood he was still spurting, plus the one going _away_ from his brain and into his..._other_ head. They didn't amount to Kaguya and Anya, who were both shamelessly comparing notes and studying Lelouch's prone form from different angles and taking _more_ notes.

C.C. wasn't sure how to feel about that. On the one hand, _"experiences_" with Marianne let her to appreciate Lelouch's position from _interesting_ angles. On the other, if the guy couldn't wait to get _lap treatment_, he could at least have waited until she'd finished her sixth pizza that day. Now it was all covered in blood! RUINED FOREVER!

Sayoko smiled placidly. It was good to see things return to almost absolute normalcy at last.

Nina smiled awkwardly. This wasn't the first time this had happened with the two of them before, but it certainly didn't often result in a blood load this big.

"_Milady must've been really waiting for this chance."_

Kallen was in a very discomforting situation. She was vexingly trapped midway between the roads to anger, hurt, embarrassment, unabashed cackling, awe, jealousy and complacency. She'd only seen this happen once before when she'd been in the Council, and it wasn't anywhere near this bad, nor had she really cared about it then.

Funny how a year can make all the difference. Still, it was nice to see something quite familiar again.

The less we speak about Kaguya and Anya, the better. The obscure arts they invoked by taking notes on Milly's technique, Lelouch's reaction, the very setting itself... It was blasphemy made flesh into two nubile girls who had found a figure of admiration in Milly Ashford.

God help us all.

Milly smiled when the people all promptly raised score cards over their heads. She smirked at the line of perfect scores, until her face soured when she spotted the 7.5.

Everyone looked up and saw it belonged to Sayoko. Everyone (except of course Lelouch, who was well off into La-la-land) stared at her like she'd grown another head, two tails, three horns and four tree branches. Yes, _tree branches._

"Milady," Sayoko began respectfully, inclining her head to the side in confusion, "I thought I taught you better than that. You could've done better you know."

Milly huffed, "I know I know. _You_ taught me everything I know, after all. I just couldn't help myself."

And she posed like a cat, "Nya!"

Five seconds later, Suzaku, Jeremiah, Kallen and Nina all simultaneously lost consciousness, for a horrible revelation had been made. C.C. did not faint. She simply became catatonic, no worries. The others though? As I said, a revelation had been made.

A revelation so great it had shattered their perception of the world forever. But mostly that of a seemingly inscrutable ninja-maid.

What had afflicted them so?

Two words, dear readers: **MIND RAPE.**

"Nya!" came twin shouts from Anya and Kaguya as both promptly did the same pose Milly had, appearing at her sides. A part of C.C.'s comatose mind briefly wondered where thy got the neko-mimi**(*4)** from, but quickly lost focus and will and returned to its dead state.

"Nya nyaaaaa!" cooed Milly as she "pawed" at the fourth wall, "Stay tuned folks! More to come later! Now that everyone that matters (and some that don't) is here, things should progress a bit more smoothly! See you soon!"

She waved cheerfully, much like she did back in her temporarily abandoned job.

"See youuuuuu!" also waved her newest disciples.

...Disciples.

...

...

...

...God saves us all.

* * *

**A.N.: ...Yeah, saves us from three Millys running around the place. Lelouch has his hands full with one, what would happen if _Milly_ "enlightened" them?**

***Shudder***

**Yeah, I used Lelouch as the unfortunate receiver of whatever mishap occurs at the moment to screw him over. Again. Fanfic or canon, he's not getting any rest, ever. Also went with Sayoko as Milly's mentor. Hey, if she kissed Shirley while disguised as Lelouch no prob, why not? Works for my humor.**

**Notes:**

***1 This scenario and everything related to it is exactly as ridiculous as it sounds, and if you find some form of normalcy in it, even by this fic's standards (or better yet, Touhou's (ridiculous) standards), then either I'm doing my job of mind-screwing you all _very_ well and should be paid handsomely for it, you've been already desentisized to it because of teh Internetz, or because something's wrong with you. And me for writing it. Or, hell, _everyone_, what do I know.**

***2: A pollywhale is a creature from to the _Baten Kaitos_ universe (couple of games for the GameCube. Real awesome, real underappreciated). Essentially small orcas with no fins and frog legs. They may sound gross, but they're very docile and quite..._passionate._ In fact, one of the Quest Magnus (one of two types of key items BT uses) you can pick up is (Pollywhale) Love Syrup, unless I remember the name wrong. _Yes._**

**_*_3: Literal blood bath, check. Invinciblity from it, check. Leaf on shoulder, check. Tempting fate, check. Yep, I just made a direct reference to poor Siegfried of _Les Nibelungs_. Just in case it wasn't obvious, it's another of my narrative jokes.**

***4: Pfft, this one's easy. _Neko-mimi_ are fake cat ears. You know those hairbands with fake cat ears on top? Those are neko-mimi. Do not confuse with a possible future _kemonomimi_ gag, wherein animal attributes are issued _for real._**


End file.
